Edward Snowden is the whistleblower responsible for leaking classified information from the NSA.  He is currently living in exile in Russia.  In the movie Snowden, he revealed that the government is essentially spying and has access to everything from emails, phone contacts, texts, and digital media to our banking information, credit card to spying on family members if you are suspected of anything suspicious.  The NSA uses a global surveillance apparatus, has global partner companies in global surveillance, harvests email and instant messaging contacts and can pretty much get any information if they feel it is beneficial to them.  The NSA uses XKeyscore, an analytical tool that allows for collection of almost anything done on the internet.

We are essentially living under surveillance.  Edward Snowden felt that our private information should not be privy to the government to spy at will.  He thought that the decision should be made public for the American people to decide.  In his interview, he is asked why he came forward and his response is, “the state power is against the people’s ability to meaningfully oppose that power.”  He didn’t like that he was the one sitting there furthering this intrusive behavior.  At one point he pointed out that he could watch drone strike videos in real time; surveillance drones following someone’s house for an hour. 

Originally, the NSA tightened up on security measures using the Patriot Act in response to the 9/11 attacks which allowed them to access records and information.  Now, the NSA is getting intelligence wherever it can.  In the You-Tube video MSNBC interview, 11^th Hour with Brian Williams Exclusive, Snowden says, “What they are selling is us.  Stealing our power and making it work for them.”  This is pretty mind-blowing when you think about it.  Even after seeing Snowden I don’t think I can fully wrap me head around the sobering fact that the NSA, CIA, may be looking into our every day lives.  What are they doing with all of our data? They are collecting all of our information.  Snowden says you don’t have to have done anything wrong.  That they are collecting data and can come back later and use that information against you in the future and if you have done something that is suspicious in nature, they can use that information against you. 

The War of the 21^st century is Cyberwar.  The modern battlefield is the war of information.  Some of our largest telecommunications providers are betraying their customers.  The NSA can recreate your exact steps and essentially know what it is you do in everyday life.  Snowden introduces the term “linkibility” which means that you take one piece of data and link it to other data.  He spoke about metadata agridata, which means that they can link your metro card, your debit card, your bank account.  Snowden is more willing to risk imprisonment than the curtailment of his intellectual freedom.  He accepts that he will live in fear of coming forward and says he is willing to risk it all because people need to be aware of what is happening and have the ability to decide.

I feel that Edward Snowden was brave in coming forward given the risk that he is taking.  I don’t think it was an easy decision. Being privileged to the vast amount of people’s information on a daily basis, I can see how this would have affected his conscious.   I can understand why he feels justified in his decision and understand that just because he has the ability to do these things doesn’t make it right.  I feel that he could be considered a patriot because he is protecting the American people and their right to choose to protect their own information.  If he didn’t come forward, the public would not be aware. 

Question:  In what possible ways will cybersecurity be increased in order to protect our information in the future?

Works Cited:

-2016, Snowden. IMDB

-Full Interview: Edward Snowden On Trump, Privacy, And Threats To Democracy | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=edward+snowden+brian+williams+full+interview+

-NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: ‘I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things’

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