A Human Rights Watch and American Civil Liberties Union report suggests NSA snooping prevents sources talking to journalists and compromises the relationships between defense attorneys and their clients.

Widespread surveillance in the US by the National Security Agency (NSA) has damaged the fabric of democracy by limiting the ability of journalists and lawyers to communicate confidentially with their sources and their clients, according to a report from two rights advocacy groups.

NSAs spying on the electronic communications of Americans is preventing news-gatherers and attorneys to do their jobs properly because they cant keep information private from the government, a report issued Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suggests.

The report is based on interviews with 46 journalists and 42 lawyers working in the areas of national security and intelligence. Five current or former senior government officials were also interviewed.

Those lawyers and journalists say the NSAs surveillance on Americans, revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, has resulted in substantial erosion of their ability to do their constitutionally-protected jobs.

If the US fails to address these concerns promptly and effectively, it could do serious, long-term damage to the fabric of democracy in the country, writes report author Alex Sinha, a fellow at HRW and ACLU.

Sources are worried that being connected to journalists through some sort of electronic record will be seen as suspicious and that they will be punished as a result, Sinha wrote. As a result sources are less willing to talk to the press about anything, including unclassified matters that could be of significant public concern.

McClatchy Newspapers reporter Jonathan Landay who covers national security and intelligence issues, told HRW that some sources have grown reluctant to talk to him about anything, even something like, Please explain the rationale for this foreign policy. Thats not even dealing with classified material; thats just educating readers.

Major Jason Wright, an Army Judge Advocate General representing Guantanamo detainees, raised a troubling concern: We are fearful that our communications with witnesses abroad are monitored, and that attempts to build their case might put people in harms way, he said in an interview for the survey.

To fix the problems stated in the report, HRW and the ACLU recommended major reforms in US surveillance practices, reducing state secrecy in general and limitations on official contact with journalists, increased protection for whistleblowers and strengthened minimization procedures.

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NSA spying hurting journalism, law in US

U.S. technology companies may lose as much as $35 billion in the next three years from foreign customers choosing not to buy their products over concern they cooperate with spy programs.

U.S. technology companies are in danger of losing more business to foreign competitors if the National Security Agencys power to spy on customers isnt curbed, researchers with the New America Foundation said in a report today.

The report, by the foundations Open Technology Institute, called for prohibiting the NSA from collecting data in bulk, while letting companies report more details about what information they give the government. Senate legislation introduced today would fulfill some recommendations by the institute, a Washington-based advocacy group that has been critical of NSA programs.

Citing concerns from top executives of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and other companies, the report made a case that NSA spying could damage the $150 billion industry for cloud computing services. Those services are expanding rapidly as businesses move software and data to remote servers.

The immediate pain point is lost sales and business challenges, said Chris Hopfensperger, policy director for BSA/The Software Alliance, a Washington-based trade association that represents companies including Apple Inc. and Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is hearing from customers that they care more than ever about where their content is stored and how it is used and secured, said John Frank, deputy general counsel for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker.

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Tech Companies Reel as NSA's Spying Tarnishes Reputations ...

Every action has a consequence, and so does the NSAs mass surveillance efforts that dont seem to care about peoples innocence or need for privacy. In fact, a new study shows that there are large financial consequences to this type of activities.

Our findings indicate that the NSAs actions have already begun to, and will continue to, cause significant damage to the interests of the United States and the global Internet community, the study reads.

The Open Technology Institute has chosen to look into the effects the scandal has had in several areas. For instance, the NSA disclosures are affecting American companies by damaging their sales overseas and diminishing their business opportunities. This happens especially as foreign companies turn products that can protect users from the NSAs ever-seeing eye into advantages against competitors.

The cloud computing industry is particularly vulnerable and could lose billions of dollars in the next three to five years as a result of NSA surveillance, the study shows.

There are also potential costs to US businesses and to the openness of the Internet from the rise of data localization and data protection proposals from governments looking to fortify themselves against the NSA. Basically, the proposal to create local networks instead of relying on the worldwide Internet network is worrying because they can threaten free expression and privacy if they are implemented.

There are also some rather big costs to the United States foreign policy because the country has lost some of its credibility, especially for the Internet Freedom agenda set down by the government. Damages are also caused to broader bilateral and multilateral relations due to the fact that the NSA spies on all countries in the world, regardless if these are the United States strategic partners or not.

For instance, theres been an obvious strain between the United States and countries such as Germany and Brazil in the past year.

Perhaps the heaviest cost, however, is the one the scandal has had on cybersecurity. The NSA has done serious damage to Internet security through its weakening of key encryption standards, insertion of surveillance backdoors into widely-used hardware and software products, stockpiling rather than responsibly disclosing information about software security vulnerabilities, and a variety of offensive hacking operations undermining the overall security of the global Internet, the studys authors wrote.

While the United States government has started to take some steps to mitigate the damage and start rebuilding the trust in the countrys ability to be a responsible steward of the Internet, things are going slow because the reforms promised last year are yet to be delivered and the changes that were actually announced would have minimal impact on the NSAs powers.

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NSA Spying Activities Have Costly Impact on Private Sector ...

US technology companies are in danger of losing more business to foreign competitors if the National Security Agency's power to spy on customers isn't curbed, the New America Foundation said in a report on Tuesday.

The foundation called for prohibiting the NSA from collecting data in bulk, while letting companies report more details about what information they provide the government. Legislation scheduled to be introduced on Tuesday in the Senate would fulfill some recommendations by the foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group that has been critical of NSA programmes.

Citing concerns from top executives of Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems Inc. and other companies, the report made a case that NSA spying could damage the $150-billion industry for cloud computing services. Those services are expanding rapidly as businesses move software and data to remote servers.

"The immediate pain point is lost sales and business challenges," said Chris Hopfensperger, policy director for BSA/The Software Alliance, a Washington-based trade association that represents companies including Apple Inc and Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is hearing from customers "that they care more than ever about where their content is stored and how it is used and secured," said John Frank, deputy general counsel for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker.

The company hasn't seen a significant business impact yet, Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, said in an e-mail.

ServInt Corp, a Reston, Virginia-based company that provides website hosting services, has seen a 30 per cent decline in foreign customers since the NSA leaks began in June 2013, said Christian Dawson, its chief operating officer.

"It ends up being death by a thousand paper cuts," Dawson said in a phone interview.

Confidence in technology companies began to be tested a year ago when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents that revealed a programme called Prism, under which the US compels companies through court orders to turn over data about their users. The documents also uncovered NSA hacking of fibre optic cables abroad to steal data, and the physical interception of routers, servers and other network equipment to install surveillance tools before they were shipped to users.

International cloud providers are now using the NSA revelations as a marketing tool, said Dawson, who also serves as chairman of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, which represents Dell Inc, Rackspace Hosting Inc and other companies.

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US tech companies reel as NSA spying tarnishes reputations

Photo: Name Withheld; Digital Manipulation: Jesse Lenz

There is no doubt the integrity of our communications and the privacy of our online activities have been the biggest casualty of the NSAs unfettered surveillance of our digital lives. But the ongoing revelations of government eavesdropping has had a profound impact on the economy, the security of the internet and the credibility of the U.S. governments leadership when it comes to online governance.

These are among the many serious costs and consequences the NSA and those who sanctioned its activitiesincluding the White House, the Justice Department and lawmakers like Sen. Dianne Feinsteinapparently have not considered, or acknowledged, according to a report by the New America Foundations Open Technology Institute.

Too often, we have discussed the National Security Agencys surveillance programs through the distorting lens of a simplistic security versus privacy narrative, said Danielle Kehl, policy analyst at the Open Technology Institute and primary author of the report. But if you look closer, the more accurate story is that in the name of security, were trading away not only privacy, but also the U.S. tech economy, internet openness, Americas foreign policy interests and cybersecurity.

Over the last year, documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, have disclosed numerous NSA spy operations that have gone beyond what many considered acceptable surveillance activity. These included infecting the computers of network administrators working for a Belgian telecom in order to undermine the companys routers and siphon mobile traffic; working with companies to install backdoors in their products or network infrastructure or to devise ways to undermine encryption; intercepting products that U.S. companies send to customers overseas to install spy equipment in them before they reach customers.

The Foundations report, released today, outlines some of the collateral damage of NSA surveillance in several areas, including:

The economic costs of NSA surveillance can be difficult to gauge, given that it can be hard to know when the erosion of a companys business is due solely to anger over government spying. Sometimes, there is little more than anecdotal evidence to go on. But when the German government, for example, specifically cites NSA surveillance as the reason it canceled a lucrative network contract with Verizon, there is little doubt that U.S. spying policies are having a negative impact on business.

[T]he ties revealed between foreign intelligence agencies and firms in the wake of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) affair show that the German government needs a very high level of security for its critical networks, Germanys Interior Ministry said in a statement over the canceled contract.

Could the German government simply be leveraging the surveillance revelations to get a better contract or to put the US on the defensive in foreign policy negotiations? Sure. That may also be part of the agenda behind data localization proposals in Germany and elsewhere that would force telecoms and internet service providers to route and store the data of their citizens locally, rather than let it pass through the U.S.

But, as the report points out, the Germans have not been alone in making business decisions based on NSA spying. Brazil reportedly scuttled a $4.5 billion fighter jet contract with Boeing and gave it to Saab instead. Sources told Bloomberg News [t]he NSA problem ruined it for the US defense contractor.

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Personal Privacy Is Only One of the Costs of NSA Surveillance

U.S. technology companies are in danger of losing more business to foreign competitors if the National Security Agencys power to spy on customers isnt curbed, the New America Foundation said in a report today.

The foundation called for prohibiting the NSA from collecting data in bulk, while letting companies report more details about what information they provide the government. Legislation scheduled to be introduced today in the Senate would fulfill some recommendations by the foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group that has been critical of NSA programs.

Citing concerns from top executives of Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and other companies, the report made a case that NSA spying could damage the $150 billion industry for cloud computing services. Those services are expanding rapidly as businesses move software and data to remote servers.

The immediate pain point is lost sales and business challenges, said Chris Hopfensperger, policy director for BSA/The Software Alliance, a Washington-based trade association that represents companies including Apple Inc. and Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is hearing from customers that they care more than ever about where their content is stored and how it is used and secured, said John Frank, deputy general counsel for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker.

A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds up a placard during a demonstration to mark the global "The Day We Fight Back" protest against mass surveillance outside the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines. Close

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A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds up a placard during a demonstration to mark the global "The Day We Fight Back" protest against mass surveillance outside the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines.

The company hasnt seen a significant business impact yet, Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, said in an e-mail.

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Tech Companies Reel as NSA Spying Mars Image for Clients

It appears that concern about government snooping may actually be an issue of equal importance to Democrats and Republicans, at least while a Democrat is in the White House.

Mr. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been leading the negotiations, and several officials familiar with the deliberations said a deal had been reached. Because the Senate leaves for its August recess at the end of next week, it is unlikely to vote on the bill before September.

The Center for Democracy and Technology supports the draft language weve seen, said Harley Geiger, a senior counsel for the advocacy group. It is, in every instance, a step forward and an improvement on what the House enacted.

The bill also modifies several changes the House version made to the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which hears only the governments point of view without any opposing counsel to argue the other side or to file appeals if the government wins, and issues classified opinions interpreting surveillance laws.

The House bill says the government must make public unclassified summaries of significant rulings by the court. Mr. Leahys draft adds that those summaries must have enough information for people to understand the rulings impact on civil liberties.

Will this legislation would stop illegal NSA surveillance? Of course not. Here's one big problem, for starters:

Several senators, including Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado, both Democrats, have called for requiring the courts permission to search for a specific Americans communications, and last month the House separately approved an amendment to a spending bill that would bar the use of funds for such searches. But the Obama administration opposes that change, and Mr. Leahys draft does not include it.

So should we care about this legislation? Of course. While such laws will not eliminate the spying, they will serve to inhibit the actions of the NSA to some degree. They also lessen the likelihood that the NSA or any government agency or Administration would be willing to use information on American citizens for purposes of improper influence, blackmail or coercion. The more publicly known, "legal" limitations of record to the NSA's behavior, however ineffective in practice, the less likely that this agency will risk negative public exposure of the kind Edward Snowden supplied, because there will at least be a law on the books for Courts to rely on. This alone will serve as something of an inhibition, and may possibly prompt the NSA to re-think some of its more arbitrary and violative schemes before they're actually hatched. The NSA have shown they hate public exposure more than anything else. So long as they have to at least pretend to hew to any law, they will always be forced into maintaining a public pretense of obeying it. The real scandal of the NSA was not the spying itself--it was the fact that we were never supposed to know what they were doing. We were all supposed to blithely go along with our lives, happily chatting on our Facebook accounts, texting, websurfing, emailing, cheerfully clueless to the surveillance cage being built around us. And most Americans would be oblivious right now, if it wasn't for Snowden's actions. But everyone knows about it now, the cat's out of the bag, and the eyes of the world are watching.

The House bill was "watered down" on the instigation of Administration officials and originally contained some fairly harsh provisions aimed at the NSA's domestic spying. So if Leahy has achieved a deal on this improved Senate version, then there is no logical reason for the legislation to be unacceptable to the Republicans when the Bill, if it passes, gets kicked back to the House.

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Why Legislation Reining In NSA Spying May Actually Make It ...

White House and Senate close to agreement on curbing NSA spying
Even with the start of a month-long congressional recess only two weeks away, lawmakers in the United States Senate may soon vote on a long-awaited surveillance reform bill before heading home...

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White House and Senate close to agreement on curbing NSA spying - Video

A newly leaked document shows that the US National Security Agency has been sharing intelligence with Saudi Arabia.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) last year significantly expanded its intelligence cooperation with Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds most repressive and abusive regimes, a newly leaked document shows.

An April 2013 top secret memo provided to The Intercept by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, details the NSAs plans to provide direct analytic and technical support on Internal security matters for the Saudi Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Saudi Ministry of Defense (MOD).

The memo describes a period of rejuvenation for the NSAs relationship with the Saudis, as part of the Obama administrations effort to enhance relations with the Saudi regime, The Intercept reports.

One secret 2007 NSA memo lists Saudi Arabia as one of four countries where the US has [an] interest in regime continuity, indicating that US support for Riyadh has existed for years.

However, the leaked memo shows that in December 2012, James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, authorized the NSA to expand its third party relationship with Saudi Arabia to include the sharing of signals intelligence, or SIGINT, capability with the MODs Technical Affairs Directorate (TAD).

With the approval of the Third Party SIGINT relationship, the memo reports, the NSA intends to provide direct analytic and technical support to TAD. The goal is to facilitate the Saudi governments ability to utilize SIGINT to locate and track individuals of mutual interest within Saudi Arabia.

Even before this new initiative in 2012, the NSA and CIA had been working with the Saudi regime to bolster Internal security and track alleged terrorists, the memo shows.

The NSAs formal Third Party relationship with the Saudis involves arming the Saudi Ministry of Defense with highly advanced surveillance technology. The NSA provides technical advice on SIGINT topics such as data exploitation and target development to TAD, the memo says, as well as a sensitive source collection capability.

According to the document, the intelligence collaboration between Washington and Riyadh has been like a two-way street, with both countries sharing information they secretly collect.

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NSA in da house German artist protests NSA spying with light graffiti
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