US Snooping Revelations Cause Trouble for Allies

Exposure of the US National Security Agency’s vast intelligence collection program through the use of internet companies like Google and Facebook is creating headaches for allied governments across the world. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague attempted to assure Britons that privacy laws were respected, while the opposition in Germany expressed displeasure and urged Merkel to demand answers from President Barack Obama when he visits in June, Reuters reports. The fallout was felt in the Pacific as well. The Australian opposition called upon the government to assess implications for the privacy of Australians, and the revelations may stall a three-year old piece of pending legislation on data mining in regards to crime and terrorism. New Zealand, already embarrassed over its admission of illegally spying on one internet baron, accused of working with the NSA during an extradition case. Obama’s insistence that the data monitoring “does not apply to U.S. citizens, and it does not apply to people living in the United States” is not reassuring in a mobile world. – YaleGlobal