How Is Edward Snowden Ethical

Many people have always wondered what the word ethics mean. To me ethics is the feeling of right and wrong. Many people have their own way of defining ethics and but this is what ethics mean to me. Ethics to other people might mean following the laws and some may say ethics is determined by what society is believed is right and wrong. For example Edward Snowden, a 30 year old man was born in North Carolina in 1983 (Edward snowden.biography, 2013, para. 1). Edward Snowden was a security guard that worked for the National Security Agency (NSA), after three months Edward Snowden started to collect NSA files and fled to Hong Kong and leaked the files. China started to print out report of the files that Edward Snowden has leaked to China

In 2013, Edward Snowden leaked classified information from the NSA that the United States government was illegally spying on its citizens. There was no interest in the subject at the time, but it brought about awareness to the citizens that they were always being monitored. Snowden immediately went into hiding, and faces serious jail time, and possibly the death penalty if apprehended. In “Snowden Does Not Deserve the Threat He Faces” Alan Rusbridger argues how Edward Snowden does not deserve to be punished so severely for his actions.

How would you feel if someone watched everything that you did online? After the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1996, and the September 11 attacks, the federal government significantly expanded counterterrorism and domestic surveillance law enforcement tools in order to prevent terrorism. In 1996, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act was passed, which increased domestic surveillance tools by law enforcement. In 2001, the federal government passed the USA PATRIOT act, that expanded the authority and power of the intelligence community and law enforcement in order to respond to domestic and international acts of terrorism. This also created the Department of Homeland Security, that controls all almost all of the government agencies that are responsible for preventing and responding to domestic terrorism. In 2013, Edward Snowden released many classified

Edward Snowden released classified information from the National Security Agency. The information released by Snowden caused American citizens to question the legality of the actions taken by the government. Suddenly, people were concerned with their privacy and what information to which the NSA had access. Soon after Edward Snowden released the classified information, the government took action and declared several NSA practices to be illicit as stated by Beatrice Edwards (McCutcheon 113).

Critics of Edward Snowden label him a traitor and a coward. They condemn him for irreparably harming government security operations and setting of a worldwide chain of events that weakened the American position on the world stage. While America now has blight on its records due to the leaks, the topic that should be addressed is should the whistle-blower, the man who uncovered and exposed the questionable and wrong activities, be blamed or should those who allowed the illegal and immoral activities be held accountable for what they started. Edward Snowden had the justification and conviction to do the correct thing and present the incriminating evidence straight to the public. When one takes in consideration everything that Snowden has lost because of his decision, there was little gain for him to make the immoral activities public. Snowden’s crime is breaching the trust of his government contract to expose egregious monitoring by the government on the American public. In an interview conducted by the Washington Post, Snowden speaks out about his goal in releasing the files: “All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed,”

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

In early 2013 a man by the name of Edward Joseph Snowden began leaking classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents to media outlets, which in turn ended up in public ears. These documents, mainly involving intelligence Snowden acquired while working as an NSA contractor, are mostly related to global surveillance programs run by the NSA. This has raised multiple ethical issues ranging from national security, information privacy and the ethics behind whistleblowing in general. The reach and impact of these leaks have gone global and have put in question the very government that protects us as well as the extent of the public’s rights on privacy. Various foreign

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 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 was placed in a very difficult position. On one hand, he could follow the law but know he was letting unethical conduct continue, and on the other hand, breaking the law. Regardless of his decision, I guarantee he put great though into each choice and alternative.

Edward Snowden is a former computer programmer that worked for the National Security Agency, an intelligence agency of the US government that focuses on the protection of important data from foreign intelligence. But back in 2013, he was found guilty of leaking confidential information regarding the NSA’s secret surveillance program. After being charged for theft of government property, various debates arose about Snowden’s betrayal towards his country. With the movie Snowden released on September 16, 2016, the controversy still continues. One of the biggest questions that is still asked today about Snowden is whether or not he is justified for his actions. There are two ways to look at this; is Snowden an enemy or hero to America?

Growing up, Snowden’s principles were deeply influenced by his father. An active member of the U.S. military through his work in the Coast Guard, he was trained to dutifully uphold the Constitution, and instilled this same ideal in his son (Harding, 2014).

An analysis of the merits of the Snowden leaks and the broader issue of security vs. privacy and mass surveillance from the perspective of at least two ethical theories.

The ethical issues involving Edward Snowden’s case encompass key issues of morality. Snowden’s actions are to be interpreted as right or wrong based on the circumstances and personal reasoning. The preceding interpretation is this case in every ethical quandary. Once these issues are assimilated to the affected parties we begin to understand the larger picture of morality and ethical reasoning in Snowden’s case.

Snowden revealed hard evidence of the NSA lying about collecting location data which is in violation of the regulations set within the FISA Amendments Act. What the NSA described in their leaked report was that they used this location data to determine if their target was a US citizen since they were not allowed to collect domestic communication data without a warrant, another unethical strategy of avoiding the law. Edward Snowden also revealed that the NSA collects intelligence through numerous telecommunication companies and social-media networking sites not just Verizon. They collect phone calls, texts, e-mails, chat, videos, photos, and file transfers using big companies like Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook.