Tech companies not happy with NSA spying

Is NSA spying harming business? The leaders of the biggest technology firms in the U.S. certainly think so. And so they weren't shy about sharing their feelings with the Pres. Obama during a recent meeting at the White House. The Washington Post recently talked about this meeting. What'd they find? Tech leaders say that NSA spying revelations are harming the entire economy.

The meeting

According to the Post's story, tech leaders had a unified message: The NSA spying revelations have caused many customers to steer clear of U.S.-branded products. That's exactly what one executive from Cisco Systems said during the meeting. Other tech leaders -- including those from IBM and Verizon -- stated that NSA spying headlines have resulted in angry shareholders.

What they want

The tech leaders told Obama that they want limits put on how much spying on U.S. customers that the NSA can do. They also said that they wanted more transparency with how the agency operates. In summary, they want the government to do something to make their customers less upset about the spying program.

Response

The Post story stated that Obama told the tech companies that he understood their concerns and that he would keep them in mind as the White House completed its review of NSA surveillance programs. Tech companies are vital to the U.S. economy. They've largely led the country's slow but steady economic recovery. It seems sensible, then, for the White House to do what it can to keep these firms content.