Why Tech Companies Are Mad at the NSA

It's official, big technologies companies have jumped on the NSA-hating bandwagon. Amid concerns from the public that the government's spying program has gone too far, big technology companies are projecting declines in future profits and they're not happy about it.

Even though these concerns haven't yet affected profits, businesses selling cloud-based products find themselves in a sticky situation after disclosures over what and how the NSA collects information. Companies like Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo are all asking the government to change how the controversial surveillance program works.

While the need to protect citizens is certainly understandable, companies are less than happy that the agency has direct access to major tech companies' servers - especially since they never provided a backdoor access point. These unfortunate revelations threaten the future earning potential of the companies as consumers may be more reluctant to participate in online websites that are known to provide data to the NSA.

Customers expect a certain level of privacy when accessing businesses in the cloud. If that privacy is taken away, a significant portion of customers will opt out and decline to participate. Less users means a decline in profits. Since the disclosures about the NSA's practices and data collection scope, cloud-based program participation has dropped, particularly outside of the U.S..

The decline isn't just among private users. Even foreign companies are opting out of American-based companies that are connected to the cloud. The fear is that the NSA is snooping on their activities and that if the government can access the backdoor to snoop, other people must be able to access it too. The concern is so great that many of the biggest tech companies are putting off plans to expand until after the NSA scandal blows over.

It's not just companies in cloud-based product sales that are feeling the repercussions of the government program. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are also having harder times attracting overseas members who are worried that the American government will use their connection to the site to access data. While current users probably won't stop using the popular social networking sites, overseas customers will likely turn to alternatives if they're not already signed up to the social giants.