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Analysis: Whom can you now trust in tech?

Jon Swartz
USA TODAY
The sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Big Data, meet Big Brother -- and that could mean big trouble for tech.

Fairly or not, the reputation of the tech world has been besmirched with a broad brushstroke by reports in Pro Publica, the New York Times and The Guardian of cracks in supposedly impenetrable encryption systems. The National Security Agency has been able to consistently unscramble digital code through supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and other tricks, according to documents obtained by the Times.

That isn't all. Der Spiegel, citing internal NSA documents, reported the U.S. intelligence agency has the capability to filch data from iPhones, Android devices and BlackBerry.

The consequences for consumers and businesses are ominous: Terrorists, cyberthieves and other assorted bad guys conceivably could illegally access bank statements, health records and other valuable documents.

The data kerfuffle is becoming an ominous asterisk to what has become a data obsession among major tech companies. Nearly every day, Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and countless startups are carting out new products and services that breathlessly promise to make the most of cloud computing and data.

Tomorrow, Apple is expected to debut a new iPhone that reads fingerprints. There are reports Facebook intends to make more use of facial-recognition technology. Smartwatch technology is in the works that eventually will track people's every move and monitor their vital signs.

"All your data is exposed to anyone willing to work for it – the NSA, hackers, whomever," says Paul Judge, chief research officer at computer-security company Barracuda Networks. "This should be a wake-up call for the average consumer."

To be clear, no companies were mentioned in the Times report and details of the decryption methods are murky, but – indirectly – the reputations of Internet-related companies have been tainted. If the Internet's security system is flawed, surely someone is to blame, says Vinnie Liu, managing partner at security-consulting firm Bishop Fox.

"The revelations will have an indelible impact on how consumers and business use technology," Liu says. "It might not change how they use it, but it affects their psyche. Can the fundamental structure of the Internet be trusted?"

With their reputations wobbling amid privacy concerns, Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft today petitioned the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to require the U.S. government to permit companies to disclose more information about the volume and types of national security-related orders they receive.

More importantly, as data-driven technology becomes increasingly engrained in consumers' daily lives, what can consumers and small business owners do to protect themselves?

"The burden falls on consumers," Judge says, noting less than 20% of computer users have any form of encryption. "Encryption is like locking your front door. If people are determined enough, they'll get in. But you need some form of deterrent."

Unfortunately, the proverbial horse is out of the barn. Most consumers rely on the very technology many now view warily.

With big data spilling into our lives through smartphones, tablets and watches, the tech industry now faces big doubts from consumers and businesses.

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