Microsoft used the Obama administration's request for comment on its big data report to bemoan the U.S. government's surveillance practices while also demanding federal legislation.
The company stood alone among its tech brethren in its support of comprehensive federal privacy legislation, as firms including Amazon, Google, and Twitter pushed against a new law.
It's a matter of trust in foreign markets, said the Redmond firm. "Without new privacy legislation, U.S. companies will find themselves increasingly disadvantaged compared to foreign providers that will compete against U.S. companies in their home and other jurisdictions based on more protective privacy regimes," wrote David Heiner, Microsoft's VP and deputy general counsel, legal and corporate affairs, in an Aug. 5 letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
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