Two years after Snowden leaks, US tech firms still feel the backlash

Two years after the first leaks by Edward Snowden about U.S. surveillance programs, the country’s tech companies are still worried about a backlash from other governments.

Several foreign governments continue to push policies requiring that data generated in their countries be stored within their borders, said Yael Weinman, vice president of global privacy policy at the Information Technology Industry Council.

“We’ve all heard the metaphor—data is the new oil,” Weinman said at the Techonomy Policy conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. “Barriers to cross-border data-flows make doing business today … much more difficult.”

The first surveillance leaks from Snowden, a former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency, came out two years ago, and the impact of the surveillance programs was part of the backdrop for several debates at the conference.

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