Edward Snowden Hero

After September 11th, Americans looked to the government for protection and reassurance. However, they did not expect to find out thirteen years later that the government did this by using technology to spy on Americans, as well as other countries. George W. Bush began the policy shortly after the terrorist attack and Barack Obama continued it. There have been many confrontations over the years about the extent of the N.S.A.’s spying; however, the most recent whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, leaked information that caused much upset throughout America (EFF). It has also brought many people to question: is he a hero or a traitor?

Edward Snowden is responsible for exposing these government secrets. Many call this an act of treason, but it can also be seen as an act of civil disobedience. The most peaceful nature of his rebellion, and the unconstitutional behavior that it consequentially exposed qualify his actions. Although it was wrong of him to escape the consequences of his actions by fleeing to Hong Kong, his actions were ultimately beneficial to the American public. Being spied upon by the government is a direct violation of our right to privacy, and hiding it from the public is wrong as well. From John Cassidy’s article, “Why Edward Snowden is a hero,” he quotes Ellsberg; “‘This wholesale invasion of Americans and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we are trying to protect.’” The act of bringing these facts to light is an act of trying to preserve our liberty, and that’s what civil disobedience is all about.

Edward Snowden isn’t the only person who believes what the U.S. had done was wrong, but also many American leaders, and other nations around the world. The United States had not only been collecting data on their own citizens, but also of other countries leaders and citizens. The release of these documents had strained political relationships between the U.S. and other allied nations. The knowledge and truth other leaders and nations had gained

Edward Snowden is a whistleblower from the 21st century. Snowden was a man who had outstanding IT skills and eventually landed a job at the NSA. He gained access to numerous files that showed the crimes the NSA was committing against its own people and against other countries as well. They were spying on people’s privacy and claimed that it was for the national security that would benefit all people. Snowden said that he could not let this

I am not too familiar with Snowden, besides the headlines he made a few years back, which state that he released information about the NSA domestic surveillance activities. I don’t think he is a traitor to the country, because he released the truth, that we are being monitored.

Ever since the American public was made aware of the United States government’s surveillance policies, it has been a hotly debated issue across the nation. In 2013, it was revealed that the NSA had, for some time, been collecting data on American citizens, in terms of everything from their Internet history to their phone records. When the story broke, it was a huge talking point, not only across the country, but also throughout the world. The man who introduced Americans to this idea was Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden “is the world’s most famous spy, whistleblower, and fugitive, responsible for the biggest intelligence breach in recent US History” (MacAskill 2013). Snowden leaked documents to journalist that exposed the partners of the United States, it’s spy agencies, and domestic surveillance of citizens out of the country. He leaked the information because he believed the public people should be the voice on whether or not the policies were moral or immoral. Just like Henry Thoreau, Snowden believed that the people should do what they believe is right for themselves and not follow the orders of the government if they believe the laws and policies are unjust.

Snowden said, “This is a turning point, and it marks the beginning of a new effort to reclaim our rights from the NSA and restore the public's seat at the table of government.” (NY Times). In this statement Edward Snowden shows that by disclosing government programs like spying on citizens, it will allow the public to decide whether or not we want our government to have the power to do so. Though the NSA was mainly out to find terrorists and others of that nature, by tapping into phone calls and emails, the people of the United States, rightfully so, had different

4). Edward Snowden to many is considered a whistle blower which is a person who informs people of organization or people doing illicit acts. One of the many results that Edwards Snowden acts caused some country’s to lose trust in the United States and are cautious of the United States spying on them.

On December 2012, who was an ordinary NSA contractor later committed one of the biggest leaks in government history. Afterwards, Edward Snowden officially became known to the public as a “whistleblower.” In reality, rather than being identified as a traitor who has damaged American security, wouldn’t Edward Snowden be viewed as a patriot for defending civil liberties? Nonetheless, I personally view Snowden as a patriot for being truthful to the people of this country. This is because many Americans had already been skeptical of the role the government in the involvement of their technology. Snowden’s actions had only verified their suspicions. Snowden disclosed the information to the public that the U.S government has been invading the privacy

Describing the program and how it works may have provided threats inside information on how to get around the systems protection in order to conduct a successful cyber attack. It is quite obvious that the information of the American people being spied on by it’s own country is great information to have, a debate those who are involved are free to do so, but it is possible that the manner in which he choose to do so, could have been done in a completely different way. Whether his employer Booz Allen received his emails or not, which of course they claimed they did not, Snowden being in the intelligence field could have found another way to, a safer way, to expose the program used against the American people. His wanting to expose the truth brought forth the debate of whether the surveillance program was legal. During the Obama administration, it prompted the action of reviewing the Patriots Act, more specifically whether it was legal or illegal to survey citizens without their knowledge, a warrant or permission and be used against them in the case of criminal activity was being conducted. It became inevitable that there was something amidst with the program and The Obama administration did make necessary changes to the Patriot Act deeming it illegal to invade the

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the

Edward Snowden is an American computer professional who was a former Central Intelligence Agency employee who brought to light surveillance programs conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the British government (GCHO). While working for the NSA, Snowden a high salary job and lived comfortably. Snowden was not directly involved with PRISM, however, as an IT personal, he had access to an immense amount of documents that not all analyst have. One of the major reasons behind Snowden decision to release classified information was to demonstrate that “It is not that I do not value intelligence, but that I oppose.  .

The government, specifically the NSA and Obama Administration have been embarrassed by the leaks. Their aim is to bring Snowden back to the US for prosecution and have him be the next target under the Espionage Act for whistleblowers. Under the Obama Administration there have been double the amount of people prosecuted under the act than any other previous administration in history since the enacting. (Greenberg, 2014) It seems that Snowden has seen an unfairness and gross abuse of power and has felt compelled to bring these things to light for the public interest, and for the global stage. The need for change from such actions, the employment of fear to strip the public’s rights and privacies, and the use of mining centers to take all our data to whatever government end has all been shown. They (the government) is not particularly happy with the revealed truths behind their hidden programs. The fact they label it under the Espionage Act as to say Snowden has aided our enemies in breaching national security is, to the open minded and intelligent, a cowardly move, since our “enemies” already have known

“You can't have 100% security and then also have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience. Society had to make choices” said President Obama. It has become a given in society that it is on the government’s agenda to procure its nation’s safety in exchange of the privacy or freedom of the people. Edward Snowden, a paladin of social justice, has now come to light with outstanding facts as for what specifically it is that the National Security Agency (NSA) is able and willing to do for the country’s sake. Snowden, a 29-year-old NSA ex-employee, worked from Hawaii on his computer support for the recollection of data in bulk from the whole nation . Under the name of Verax, which means truth teller in Latin, he