This might make for an awkward plane ride to the Mandela service. Former President Bill Clinton told Brazilian newspaper O Globo that, "We should never collect economic information under the pretext of security." Clinton is in the country for Clinton Global Initiative, and his declaration comes after reports that the NSA collected financial information on Petrobras, Brazil’s state-run oil company. The reports also said that the NSA targeted Google and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. While failing to offer reasons why the spying was conducted beyond national security, the U.S. government said it is not done to steal trade secrets. Clinton had previously criticized the NSA spying on foreign leaders, saying it had a “damaging effect.”
