Foreign Tech Firms Seemingly Unfazed By NSA Surveillance Revelations

Edward Snowden’s revelations of widespread surveillance by the National Security Agency don't appear to have discouraged most international customers from doing business with US technology firms, a new survey suggests. About 26 percent of foreign firms -- based in the Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe and Latin America -- said they stopped or reduced spending with US-based firms for Internet-based services because of security concerns, according to a new survey from Forrester Research.

About 34 percent said these concerns were because of fears that the US intelligence community might spy on them. The remainder cited other factors, including wanting to support businesses within their home countries and data sovereignty rules preventing them from storing data abroad. The survey was administered over the phone and online between June and July 2014 to more than 3,000 businesses.