Not only are the NSA’s actions illegal, they are also hurting the US economy. A recent article by Zack Whittaker published in the ZDNet web site tells how a number of foreign governments are no longer willing to purchase products from US companies because of the fear that NSA-created “back doors” in those products will allow the US government to spy on the foreign governments and on their companies and citizens. The article may be found at http://goo.gl/DoLMcU.

Numerous other reports document the reluctance of non-US firms to use email services, cloud-based services, or other products that use servers located within the United States or servers anywhere in the world that are operated by US companies.

In fact, NSA policies are driving businesses into the open arms of foreign corporations. A 2013 report warned that American companies could lose up to $180 billion in lost technology sales as a result of the NSA spying allegations. A report in August of last year found that American cloud computer services alone could lose up to $35 billion a year in lost overseas sales as a result of the revelations.

You can read more in an article at http://www.rstreet.org/2014/10/17/nsa-spying-harms-the-economy-as-well.