One of the biggest problems with the current situation is that US technology companies have no ability to convince others that their equipment has not been compromised by a government mandated backdoor.
This is imposing a significant and real cost on providers of outsourced Web Services and is beginning to place costs on manufacturers. International customers are learning to shop elsewhere for their IT needs. While moving from the US to the UK might seem to leave the customer equally vulnerable to warrant-less NSA/GCHQ snooping, there is a very important difference. A US provider can be silenced using a National Security Letter which is an administrative order issued by a government agency without any court sanction. There is no equivalent capability in UK law. A UK court can make an intercept order or authorize a search etc. but that is by definition a Lawful Intercept and that capability exists regardless of jurisdiction. What is unique in the US at the moment is the National Security Letter. -- Website: http://hallambaker.com/
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