US Tech Firms Losing Business Over PRISM: Survey

WASHINGTON – Revelations about the US government’s vast data collection programs have already started hurting American technology firms, according to an industry survey released this week.

The Cloud Security Alliance said 10 percent of its non-US members have cancelled a contract with a US-based cloud provider, and 56 percent said they were less likely to use an American company.

The online survey was taken between June 25 and July 9, following media revelations of programs that collect the phone logs of millions of Americans, as well as Internet data from the accounts of foreign targets, as a way to thwart terror attacks.

The organization received a total of 456 responses from its member base, about half of which were outside the United States. The alliance includes some 48,000 individual members and corporations involved in security and other Internet-based businesses.

US technology firms have asked the government to release more details about the so-called PRISM program and other data collection efforts, claiming the roles of the companies have been misinterpreted. Some companies say non-US customers are less likely to trust American firms with their data following the revelations.

In the survey, 36 percent of US firms polled said the revelations would make it more difficult for their company to do business outside the United States, while 64 percent said it would not.

Some 91 percent of the members surveyed said companies should be allowed to publish summary information about data they provide to the National Security Agency or other US government entities.