NSA surveillance activities, as revealed by former contractor...

NSA surveillance activities, as revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden, have damaged the economic outlook of international businesses based in the U.S., prompted proposals by foreign governments for data localization mandates, weakened the diplomatic standing of the U.S. and undermined the NSA’s cybersecurity efforts, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute says in a policy paper released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/UIDnRJ). “While intelligence officials have vigorously defended the merits of the NSA programs, they have offered little hard evidence to prove their value -- and some of the initial analysis actually suggests that the benefits of these programs are dubious,” the foundation said in an accompanying blog post (http://bit.ly/1mYFrMj) Tuesday. “American companies have reported declin ing sales overseas and lost business oppor tunities, especially as foreign companies turn claims of products that can protect users from NSA spying into a competitive advantage,” the paper says. NTIA’s decision to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to ICANN and its multistakeholder body “demonstrates that [NTIA] is willing to fulfill longstanding commitments to the Internet governance community rather than fighting to maintain the status quo,” it says, citing the disruption to the Internet governance debate and multistakeholder model after the Snowden disclosures. The paper recommends increasing “transparency around government surveillance” and strengthening “privacy protections for both Americans and non-Americans,” among other ways to reduce the alleged harm of NSA programs.