NSA spy scandal dissuading firms from using the US cloud

Peer 1 research suggests Edward Snowden's revelations have made businesses wary of US hosting

The National Security Agency (NSA) government surveillance revelations leaked by IT contractor Edward Snowden have made British and Canadian businesses more reluctant to store data with US-based hosting and cloud providers.

That's according to research by storage firm Peer 1 Hosting, which suggests businesses have become more aware of privacy concerns surrounding data storage since the NSA Prism programme became public knowledge.

Indeed, a quarter of companies surveyed by Peer 1 Hosting are now moving their data away from US service providers due to security concerns. Nonetheless, the US remains the most popular country for organisations to store data when they want it outside of their own state's borders.

The research also suggests that security has become the top concern when looking for a hosting provider, with 96 per cent of organisations considering this to be the top factor, putting it slightly ahead of performance.

"With data privacy and security concerns top of mind after NSA, Prism and other revelations around the world, businesses in the UK and Canada are taking real action," said Robert Miggins, SVP business development at Peer 1 Hosting.

"Many are moving data outside of the US, and even more are making security and privacy their top concerns when choosing where to host their company data," he continued.

"It's clear that hosting and cloud providers need to take note and offer their customers true choice in terms of the locations and environments where they store their data, ensuring they can maintain security, compliance and privacy to the best extent possible," Miggins concluded.

It's previously been suggested that the NSA revelations could cost US hosting firms $35bn over the next three years, as businesses wary of US government snooping move their data elsewhere.