Though the Obama administration has denied it, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says the government have been spying on companies overseas to give the U.S. an economic advantage.
During an interview with German TV network ARD TV, Snowden said the government has spied on foreign companies to help American corporations, even if it has no value to national security or keeping Americans safe. "If there's information at Siemens that's beneficial to U.S. national interests—even if it doesn't have anything to do with national security—then they'll take that information nevertheless," Snowden said during the interview.
Not wanting to dish out information before the publications with the leaked documents prepare it for the public, Snowden didn't give much detail. "I don't want to pre-empt the work of journalists," he said, "but there's no question the US is engaged in economic spying. If there's information at Siemens that they think would be beneficial to the national interests (not the national security) of the United States, they'll go after that information."
Though there isn't details or confirmation outside of Snowden, if it is confirmed by publications, the U.S. won't be the first country to conduct spying for economic purposes. China has been caught spying by American and Canadian companies, like BlackBerry, and has possibly spied on hundreds more.
[via CBS]
