Snowden: Two years after NSA Leaks

Two years after the publicized U.S surveillance programs data leaks by Mr. Edward Snowden, the nation’s tech firms are still anxious about backlash from other governments. According to Yael Weinman, the Vice President of international privacy policy at ITIC, many foreign states continue pushing for policies which require that all data generated within their borders be stored within the country and not outside. He says that such barriers to cross-border data flow only makes doing business become a difficult thing, given that today the world is more of a global village.

Edward Snowden

The initial surveillance leaks from Snowden, former contractor of the U.S. National Security Agency, has drawn major debate on whether it’s appropriate for governments to share their virtual information with other states for security reasons. The heightened pressure in some nations for Internet anonymity data policies will not just hurt U.S tech gurus, but also vendors from other countries around the world since they’ll have to comply with these same regulations as well. For instance, a Russian data localization law is expected to be passed by September 2015.

NSA leaks

Generally, it’s estimated that the data backlash exhibited by these foreign states will cost U.S. tech companies anywhere between $21.5 and $35 billion dollars. It’s now emerging that the entire U.S. IT economy, and not just the cloud-computing sector, has immensely underperformed since Snowden’s revelations. Apart from Russia’s upcoming regulation, Germany and France are also trying to create their own private Internet anonymity networks while other countries such as China, India and Australia have already imposed data localization laws. Even before Snowden’s revelations, some countries had already began pressing for regulation of data within their respective territories, but this unfortunate event only made them more adamant in pursuing this goal for Internet anonymity reasons.

Technology And Internet Anonymity

In recent years, the revelation came out that the United States government was closely monitoring internet usage all across the world. This prompted a massive backlash both in the country and abroad. With the revelations made by Edward Snowden, who is still being hunted for releasing the information, more than a third of Americans are now taking precautions to protect themselves from internet surveillance. Users have taken extra measures to protect their online information as they are now more conscious that their online activities may not be private.

Technology And Internet Anonymity

Technology and internet anonymity have now become a huge concern in daily life for the public. People are aware of the dangers they face with regards to surveillance, either by the government or third parties. They know that their webcam can be, and probably is watched. They know that Facebook sends their location on messenger if they don’t turn off the default settings on the device they use. Some online users have changed their privacy settings and others have reduced on their use of social media platforms. They became more cautious of the apps they installed on their computers. Now, even corporations and foreign governments are up in arms regarding the widespread surveillance.

Technology And Internet Anonymity1

Everyone is worried about their privacy and internet anonymity, and they have good reason. Nobody wants somebody watching them when they are at their computers. With the rise of mobile technology, you can gain as much information as you want from a person. People might find out anything from your personal information to the things you browse online. Technology and internet anonymity is part of a basic human right to privacy. It may be an impossible thing to gain considering the fact that the backbone of the internet itself is based on tracking people whether by the government or corporations.