U.S. lawmakers ask trade czar to stem data threats

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress want the Obamaadministration to demand that U.S. allies back
away from proposedrestrictions on international data transmissions, saying those actionscould hurt U.S.
companies.Some nations are seeking to tighten theflow of data after reports this fall of the National
Security Agencyconducting massive information-gathering efforts abroad.Germanyhas asked European Union
officials to consider restrictions that wouldprevent U.S. companies from processing commercial and personal
data fromcustomers in Europe. That could affect the flow of information and hurtU.S. businesses such as
Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.Other proposals could affect the development of cloud
computing.Abipartisan group of House members — 12 Democrats and six Republicans —has sent a letter to U.S.
Trade Representative Michael Froman,insisting that nations abandon such efforts as a condition of
pendingtrade pacts."These policies threaten to harm American andinternational businesses," the
lawmakers said in a letter dated Friday.The letter’s primary authors were Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas,
andDoris Matsui, D-Calif., co-chairs of the Congressional High Tech Caucus.Theletter also cited measures
ordered by President Dilma Rousseff inBrazil to make the country’s online system more independent from
theU.S. and other countries.Asked about the letter, Froman’s officesaid, "We are confident that we will
be able to respect privacyprotections on both sides of the Atlantic as we advance our commondigital trade
agenda.""The United States and the European Unionhave one of the most substantial data transfer
networks in the world,and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic depend on the ability totransfer data
seamlessly across borders to conduct their global businessoperations," the trade representative’s
office said in a statement. Itcalled the existing U.S.-EU agreement "a vital bridge."This
fall,reports surfaced that the NSA has been monitoring the cell phones of anumber of world leaders,
including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Other reports based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor
EdwardSnowden have portrayed agency spying on foreign governments, companiesand tens of millions of
telephone calls in Europe.The backlashover the spying could threaten a sweeping free-trade pact with
theEuropean Union, which is aimed at adding about $138 billion a year toboth regions’ economies. That deal
is one of President Barack Obama’stop trans-Atlantic goals.The fallout also could hurt America’sexisting
trade agreement with Europe, which generates tens of billionsof dollars in trans-Atlantic business
annually.EU officials havesaid the trust needed for trade negotiations has been shattered. Chineseand
Southeast Asian governments have demanded an explanation from U.S.authorities on the NSA surveillance.The
lawmakers are urgingFroman "to remind our trading partners around the world that allgovernments and all
segments of the economy benefit from cross-borderdata flows." They are asking Obama’s trade czar to
keep the issueprominently on the table in ongoing talks on two landmark tradeagreements: with the European
Union and with a group of countries acrossthe Asia-Pacific region.Lawmakers sent the letter a week after
acoalition of businesses including Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook andMicrosoft penned its own, asking Obama
to curb the surveillanceprograms.Silicon Valley has been fighting in the courts and inCongress for changes
that would allow them to disclose more informationabout the secret government orders they receive. Several
companies areintroducing more encryption technology to shield their users’ data fromgovernment spies and
other prying eyes.The tech companies arestraining to counter any perception that they voluntarily give
thegovernment access to users’ email and other sensitive data.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All
rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.

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