NSA Scandal Will Cost American Cloud Storage Industry Millions

Vice President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, has made some dire predictions for the American cloud storage industry according to Russia Today. Neelie Kroes believes that U.S cloud storage providers are now going to suffer steep losses of revenue thanks to revelations about the NSA’s extensive spying programs.

“If businesses or governments think they might be spied on, they will have less reason to trust cloud, and it will be cloud providers who ultimately miss out…Why would you pay someone else to hold your commercial or other secrets if you suspect or know they are being shared against your wishes?”

He then went on to say he believes the scandal could cost the U.S cloud storage industry dearly with “multi-billion euro” consequences.

“It is often American providers that will miss out, because they are often the leaders in cloud services. If European cloud customers cannot trust the United States government, then maybe they won’t trust US cloud providers either. If I am right, there are multibillion-euro consequences for American companies. If I were an American cloud provider, I would be quite frustrated with my government right now.”

With the NSA’s PRISM program giving them unprecedented access to internet data and their spying activities covering emails, phone calls and numerous other things companies do not  feel safe operating in the USA.  This is hardly surprising and we may even see an exodus of U.S cloud storage companies from the USA to other countries in an attempt to prevent loss of earnings.

Image courtesy of Adaptivity Labs