Capterra Glossary
In 2013, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor named Edward Snowden leaked documents from the NSA, revealing that the agency was collecting information from the electronic devices of U.S. citizens without their knowledge. This data breach was accomplished with the help of major American tech companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, AOL, PalTalk, and Yahoo. The result of this leak was coined the Snowden Effect: an increase in public concern regarding the information security and information privacy rights of U.S. citizens. The Snowden Effect has had a massive impact on the tech industry today, causing tech companies to find ways to better address customer data privacy concerns, such as implementing the use of data security products like data encryption services.
Since learning that the private data of U.S. citizens had been accessed by the government without their knowledge with the help of large tech companies, U.S. citizens tend to be less trusting of the cloud services and other technologies that house their private information. Small and midsize businesses, as well as startups in the tech industry should be aware of this and take the necessary steps to protect customer data. For instance, businesses that offer software programs in which users store private data should feature data encryption and file compression services to protect sensitive user information from unauthorized access. This will help these businesses and tech startups gain the trust of their customer base by assuring them that they possess the security capabilities to keep customer data confidential.