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US faces major Internet image problem, former gov't official says
NSA surveillance allegations have led to countries questioning the country's commitment to Internet freedom, a former Obama official says
The U.S. government has a huge image problem worldwide as it promotes Internet freedom on one hand and conducts mass surveillance on the other, potentially creating major problems for U.S. technology companies, a former official with President Barack Obama's administration said Thursday.
Many U.S. policy makers don't recognize the level of distrust created by recent revelations about U.S. National Security Agency surveillance, and that lack of trust will drive other countries away from U.S. technology firms, said Andrew McLaughlin, former White House deputy CTO.
"We, as an advocate for freedom of speech and privacy worldwide, are much, much, much more screwed than we generally think in Washington, and ... American industry and our Internet sector is more much, much, much more screwed than we think internationally," McLaughlin said during a speech at a Human Rights First summit in Washington, D.C.
snip
The NSA surveillance has led to an intense "level of anger and the degree of betrayal" in many countries that U.S. policy makers don't seem to fully appreciate, he said. And many countries have begun to explore other options beyond U.S. technology companies because of the surveillance revelations, he added.
There's now a perception outside the U.S. that the country's technology companies "are willing instruments of violation of civil rights and civil liberties," McLaughlin said. "We have essentially nationalized what were previously seen as stateless Internet entities."
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/533605/us_faces_major_internet_image_problem_former_gov_t_official_says/
The U.S. government has a huge image problem worldwide as it promotes Internet freedom on one hand and conducts mass surveillance on the other, potentially creating major problems for U.S. technology companies, a former official with President Barack Obama's administration said Thursday.
Many U.S. policy makers don't recognize the level of distrust created by recent revelations about U.S. National Security Agency surveillance, and that lack of trust will drive other countries away from U.S. technology firms, said Andrew McLaughlin, former White House deputy CTO.
"We, as an advocate for freedom of speech and privacy worldwide, are much, much, much more screwed than we generally think in Washington, and ... American industry and our Internet sector is more much, much, much more screwed than we think internationally," McLaughlin said during a speech at a Human Rights First summit in Washington, D.C.
snip
The NSA surveillance has led to an intense "level of anger and the degree of betrayal" in many countries that U.S. policy makers don't seem to fully appreciate, he said. And many countries have begun to explore other options beyond U.S. technology companies because of the surveillance revelations, he added.
There's now a perception outside the U.S. that the country's technology companies "are willing instruments of violation of civil rights and civil liberties," McLaughlin said. "We have essentially nationalized what were previously seen as stateless Internet entities."
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/533605/us_faces_major_internet_image_problem_former_gov_t_official_says/