Spying Fears Abroad Hurt US Tech Firms

Revelations about the National Security Agency's eavesdropping on electronic communications have given governments overseas an opening to restrict US technology companies, which some foreign politicians have depicted as too compliant with or complicit in the spying.

Some US-based multinationals are worried that new laws abroad meant to shield personal data from spying could prevent them from moving their own business data from foreign affiliates to their home offices. Daniel Castro, an analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said data-privacy rules and other restrictions now in force in some countries could slow the growth of the US technology-services industry by as much as 4%.