Privacy group outlines cost of surveillance

Spying at the National Security Agency and elsewhere is hurting U.S. businesses, American foreign policy and security across the Internet, according to new analysis from a group of civil liberties advocates.

The 60-page report released by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute on Tuesday comes on the same day that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is introducing his new version of a bill to reform the contested spying outfit, and could provide a boost for critics of the agency. 

“Our findings indicate that the NSA’s 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 organization wrote in its report.

At the top of the list are tech companies, who have suffered losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars due to people’s loss of trust in their services. They could be further hurt by foreign governments who begin to distrust the current structure of the Internet and call for new laws that data be held in their countries or assert more control online.

Additionally, disclosures that the U.S. had snooped on foreign leaders in Brazil, Germany and other countries have damaged the countries’ international alliances, and the friction could be felt for years.

“The U.S. government is fighting an uphill battle at the moment to regain credibility in international Internet governance debates and to defend its moral high ground as a critic of authoritarian regimes that limit freedom of expression and violate human rights online,” the organization said in its report. “Moreover, the fallout from the NSA’s surveillance activities has spilled over into other areas of U.S. foreign policy and currently threatens bilateral relations with a number of key allies.”  

Finally, NSA operations to find vulnerability online and ensure agents have “backdoors” to peer into people’s communications “have undermined trust in the security of the Internet itself,” the report declared.

The report comes as Leahy is set to introduce his new, more aggressive version of the USA Freedom Act, which tech companies and organizations including the Open Technology Institute have rallied behind.

Kevin Bankston, the organization’s policy director, said in a statement that the new bill “would go a long way toward stemming the costs of the NSA’s spying programs and restoring trust in the American Internet industry, by prohibiting bulk records collection and providing substantially more transparency around the NSA’s surveillance programs.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/213638-privacy-group-outlines-cost-of-surveillance#ixzz38uK1NEbd 

You need to be a member of Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community to add comments!

Join Ashtar Command - Spiritual Community

Email me when people reply –

Topics by Tags

Monthly Archives

Latest Activity

Drekx Omega commented on Drekx Omega's blog post One Rebel Star Should Fall From The EU Flag's Circular Constellation and Rise Anew With Greater and Brighter Light
"At last, POTUS has challenged comrade Starmer, for stupidly giving up the Indian ocean Chagos islands, to Mauritius, for no benefit to UK/US security and as he says, "NO REASON WHATSOEVER." And we British taxpayers have to pay for giving up our own…"
1 hour ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a status
Mother ship found in Greenland !

"This Is Why Greenland Is SO Important''..." | Ashtar Command
GFL Station- you-tube
152K subscri
3 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin commented on rev.joshua skirvin's blog post January 19, 2026: Waiting In The Waiting Game [videos] Starship Earth: The Big Picture.
"Funny, how both of these post happen at the same time. The video below is well worth seeing,as a back up from this one above that google messed up as you can see the vids did not show up

"This Is Why Greenland Is SO Important..." | Ashtar…"
4 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a blog post
   The battlefield is certainly getting interesting as 5th Dimensional Warfare and higher command the events. There’s also a lot of talk about ice. There was Susie Wiles the “Ice Maiden”, and followed by ICE agents rounding up illegal immigrants,…
5 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin commented on rev.joshua skirvin's blog post Soul Whispers: Everything is a Response & : Anchoring Higher Light-Raising Your Frequency; by ~KejRaj.
"Soul Whispers: Integration
Featured;
Your Higher Self is bringing together, cleansing, and realigning all of your past and future timelines and experiences into this present moment. This integration is taking place to greatly support you through…"
5 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a status
the Archonic forces,& their puppets,who have chosen manipulation, exploitation,& the suffering of others-r approaching a profound r
6 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a status
for many individuals r awakening from a place of deep unconsciousness.The very structures they once defended are collapsing beneath them.
6 hours ago
rev.joshua skirvin posted a status
Each of u was seeded with the living light of the Prime Creator,encoded within ur very cells,a divine spark that has always been a part of u
6 hours ago
More…