14 DAY TRIAL // Newly declassified files from the FISA court reveal that the NSA has repeatedly broken the rules with no remorse. Aside from the issue of privacy, this is also an issue of economy, says Jim Sensenbrenner, the author of the Patriot Act, the document that the NSA based off some of the powers it took upon itself.
The issue, he writes in a piece for the Guardian, is the fact that the lack of an NSA reform will eventually hurt tech firms in the US.
“The overreach by the National Security Agency does more than infringe on American civil liberties. It poses a serious threat to our economic vitality. Reports from the business community are clear: indiscriminate collection of data by the NSA damages American companies’ growth, credibility, competitive advantage and bottom line,” Sensenbrenner wrote.
According to the politician, US companies that are currently seeking to expand their business to Europe and Asia find companies there less receptive to mergers and acquisition, mostly because of the NSA scandal and the spying programs the agency has are hurting their image.
One of the examples Sensenbrenner gives is the case of AT&T who is currently being scrutinized by authorities in Germany before it is allowed to acquire a German telecommunications company.
“Of course, US tech companies do not exist in a vacuum, free from competition. Companies like Google, which exhibit clear dominance in the United States, compete intensely with foreign competitors around the world,” he writes.
He also mentions the issues Cisco Systems is having in the world, as the number of orders it receives has dropped considerably around the world, a big difference compared to last quarter’s 8 percent growth.
Furthermore, considering how many tech companies are in the US, their problems could soon become the entire country’s economic problem.