The NSA's other victim: U.S. business competitiveness

This week, a review panel commissioned by the White House determined that the NSA needs reining in to prevent overreaching and damaging America. The day before the panel released its recommendations, a delegation of technology business leaders visited the White House to register its concerns about the NSA. Are the latter's concerns purely patriotic? Clearly not.

The consequences of the unconstitutional overreach of the NSA and other parts of America's security apparatus on American technology business are already being felt. Last week saw an investor lawsuit against IBM for its collaboration with the NSA, and it seems likely similar cases will follow as other technology companies, such as Microsoft, have also been found collaborating with the NSA. But far more serious is the destabilization of trust in these businesses.