More on how the NSA scandal is negatively affecting the cloud

In the wake of the NSA spying scandal, I have been moving my data away from large US vendors and increasing my computer security. Both of these issues needed to be addressed but the NSA spying scandal has made them relevant for me – and I suspect many others. This will negatively impact earnings growth, particularly at Google and Facebook, particularly for international and business revenue.

When it comes to personal and business computing security, maintaining relationships with multiple vendors is just as important as basic security. However, now that we know definitively that the US government is tapping into the Internet backbone and coercing Internet companies to divulge user data, security will take a more pronounced anti-American, anti-large vendor, anti-cloud computing turn.

I am personally reviewing my data relationships to diversify my data vendors and to improve security and encryption where necessary in order to keep my data private. However, I believe businesses in particular will become more reluctant to turn their valuable data over to off-premises vendors that depend on the cloud for fear that this data will be collected and permanently archived by the US government. Non-US companies in particular should be concerned about this. As a result, we should expect a downshift in cloud adoption rates, particularly among large US companies that are targeted by the US government. Google, Yahoo, AOL and Facebook are most exposed here due to their dependence on the Internet for the totality of their revenue streams and because they are all part of the PRISM program. Amazon is not a part of PRISM and Apple, while a part of PRISM, derives a lot of revenue from data that is not in the cloud.

This story is still in its infancy but I think it is going to be an interesting wrinkle to how users adopt mobile technologies. Expect security-oriented technology companies to benefit.

Below are the tech links, with a particular highlight on the NSA spying scandal. Expect to hear more about the Telecom part of this because that’s where the meat lies. There are two big issues in my view: the telecom companies’ actively working with government on a massive scale to give real time data from their internet backbone facilities and the outsourcing of large portions of the US government surveillance and intelligence operations to private vendors. These are going to be the two most important issues going forward.

 

Cloud Companies

US surveillance revelations deepen European fears | Reuters 

PRISM could foil the public-cloud campaign, and private clouds might lie in crosshairs — Tech News and Analysis

Norway Cloud Service Touts NSA-Free Storage As Alternative To Dropbox, SkyDrive And Other U.S. Services | TechCrunch

One lesson from the NSA scandal: Find out where your cloud provider’s data centers are located — Tech News and Analysis

Tech companies working with the NSA are making a Faustian bargain — Tech News and Analysis

Techies’ Efforts to Own #Snowden/NSA Surveillance Narrative = #Fail « naked capitalism

Escape from PRISM: how Twitter defies government data-sharing | The Verge

‘We need a Google alternative,’ says Kim Dotcom | The Daily Caller

How Google Transfers Data To NSA – Digits – WSJ

Why Was Apple Late To The PRISM Party? | TechCrunch

Apple – Apple’s Commitment to Customer Privacy

Woz: This is not my America | Technically Incorrect – CNET News

Twitter Backs Google, Says Facebook Made Mistake In Data Deal With Fed – Mike Isaac – News – AllThingsD

Microsoft’s U.S. law enforcement and national security requests for last half of 2012 – Microsoft on the Issues – Site Home – TechNet Blogs

Facebook Releases Data, Including All National Security Requests – Facebook Newsroom

On Prism, partisanship and propaganda | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

 

Security

CloudFlare, PRISM, and Securing SSL Ciphers | CloudFlare Blog

HTTPS and Tor: Working Together to Protect Your Privacy and Security Online | Electronic Frontier Foundation

How to prevent the NSA from reading your email — Tech News and Analysis

Encrypting Your Email Works, Says NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden | TechCrunch

The 3 Most Secure & Encrypted Email Providers Online

Want to Protect Your Emails? Don’t Use these 11 Android and iPhone Email Apps – CBS News

Official Blog: Ensuring your information is safe online

 

Edward Snowden

Shooting the messenger: The intergroup sensitivity effect « The Jury Room

“we are more likely to shoot that unlucky messenger when they are an outgroup rather than ingroup member”

Edward Snowden Q and A: NSA whistleblower answers your questions | World news | guardian.co.uk

“NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for anything they want” 

Edward Snowden’s Background Surrounded By Spycraft

The Sickening Snowden Backlash – The Daily Beast

Daily Kos: TIME Magazine Attacks Whistleblowers

 

NSA – US

Journalists Need To Start Asking About Storage, Not Access | Uncrunched

U.S. Agencies Said to Swap Data With Thousands of Firms – Bloomberg

Spygate Leaks Imperil State-Secrets Defense | Threat Level | Wired.com

It’s Beyond Ridiculous That Email (But Not Mail) Has Been Left Out of Privacy Laws | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

Snowden: NSA snoops on U.S. phone calls without warrants | Politics and Law – CNET News

ODNI Statement on the Limits of Surveillance Activities

3 NSA veterans speak out on whistle-blower: We told you so

Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure

Senate Staffers Told To Pretend Top Secret Documents Are Not Widely Available On Web – Forbes

Al Gore: NSA’s secret surveillance program ‘not really the American way’ | World news | guardian.co.uk

Foreign Stakes Shield Two Phone Firms from NSA Sweep – WSJ.com

Why you should worry about the NSA  – NY Daily News

 

NSA – Foreign

Deutscher Geheimdienst baut Netz-Überwachung aus – US-Abhörskandal – derStandard.at › International

The Germans are doing it too this article says.

Berlin Profits from US Spying Program and Is Planning Its Own – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Bundesregierung: Deutsche Geheimdienste können PGP entschlüsseln – Golem.de

According to this article the Germans have fabulous decryption capabilities

GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians’ communications at G20 summits | UK news | The Guardian

UK gathering secret intelligence via covert NSA operation | Technology | guardian.co.uk

PRISM – The British Dimension – Falkvinge on Infopolicy

Spanish police might use trojans to spy computers | New Europe

 

 

Technology 

Yahoo! Reportedly Offers $30M to $40M For Social Email Startup Xobni | TechCrunch

Amazon’s Grocery Business Learns From Webvan That Rapid Growth Is The Enemy Of Fresh | TechCrunch

Given Amazon’s commitment to low prices and low margins, grocery retailers with large investments in physical stores should see this as a big threat.

From the ashes of Webvan, Amazon builds a grocery business | Reuters

Microsoft Blew It on the Price of Xbox One – Rafi Mohammed – Harvard Business Review

I agree with this here. I wrote just last week that the Xbox 360 was overpriced and restrictive and that this would hurt Microsoft. I still believe this is true.

New Skype Video Messaging Feature Allows You to Send Video Postcards – Droid Life

Feedly’s Migration To Its New RSS Server Has Begun, Is Messy | Lifehacker Australia

Dark clouds loom over Google in the EU as Swedish data regulator kills a Google Apps deal – The Next Web

Disconnect, An Ex-Googler’s Social Enterprise/Privacy Startup, Raises $3.5M, Extends To More Browsers | TechCrunch

LinkedIn Builds Its Publishing Presence – NYTimes.com 

Saudi Arabia plans to block WhatsApp within weeks: report | Reuters

Songbird Sings Its Last Tune As Music Service Runs Out Of Money And Plans To Shut Down June 28 | TechCrunch

 

Mobile

Nokia Lumia 925 review | PC Pro

 Samsung to launch faster Galaxy S4 smartphone | Reuters

A Look Back On Symbian On The Eve Of Its Demise | TechCrunch

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