Throughout 2013, volumes were written about whistleblower Edward Snowden and how U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted phone calls and snooped on internet usage in the U.S. and abroad.

Beyond hand-wringing over privacy issues, there are also business implications heading into the New Year and beyond. Traditionally, a number of organizations have shared governance of the Internet, with the balance of power tilted towards the U.S. and organizations like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN. But now, privacy-minded Europeans are poised to make a power grab that could affect the very future of the Web, shift the balance of power away from the U.S., and put American companies at a disadvantage.

“The U.S. has been at the cutting edge of setting core standards, having helped develop many of the approaches in the first place,” says Stephen Bonner, a partner in KPMG's information protection and business resilience team. “This advantage has meant that the U.S. was best placed to innovate at a local level and excel in academic research. The change in mood, however, could mean that the next generation of Internet rules and regulations probably won't come from US headquartered organizations, but more so from trusted EU entities.”

In our latest podcast, Bonner spoke from his London office about these changes and what they could mean for U.S. based technology and social media companies.

Listen to the podcast. (10 min., 9 MB)

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