Edward Snowden
His impact on Data Privacy
What is Edward Snowden known for?
Edward Joseph Snowden is infamously known as an American whistleblower, a person who has exposed disclosed information to the public about any wrongdoing. He is probably one of America's most infamous whistleblowers. Snowden began working as a computer programmer for the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a subcontractor in 2006. It wasn't until 2013 when he took a leave of absence from the NSA because he had found NSA documents that were "invasive and disturbing to him."
Immediately after collecting these top secret documents about the NSA's domestic surveillance practices, he immediately fled to Hong Kong and met with journalists. The documents that Snowden had shown were the history in detail of the United States' government's most closely guarded secrets, known as the Program, which began on September 11, 2001 in the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. One of the journalists from The Guardian had taken these documents and a few days later, released them on PRISM, a NSA program. As soon as this happened, domestic and internation debate began.
According to Snowden, he executed this plan because he wanted the people of the United States and around the world to know the disturbing truth about their United States government. He was willing to sacrifice everything because he could not allow the U.S. government to continue to destroy privacy, internet freedom, and basic liberties for people.
What did Snowden's actions result in?
On June 14, 2013, he was charged with multiple charges including "theft of government Property," "unauthorized communication of national defense information" and "willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person." Some of these charges fell under violations of the Espionage Act. These charges resulted in him to stay in hiding for more than a month, becoming stranded in Russia when his passport was voided by the U.S government.
Where is Edward Snowden today?
As of last year, Snowden remains in Moscow, Russia for asylum. He wanted to return to the United States for a fair trial, but it never happened, so Snowden is still in Russia to this day. Many saw Snowden as a traitor to his own country, but there were some that supported him. His story had interested many film makers; documentaries and biopics about Snowden's story have also been released since 2013.
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