Laura Poitras

Is the price of safety worth the loss of privacy? In June of 2013 civil rights lawyer and journalist Glenn Greenwald published on The Guardian the first of numerous articles containing files he’d received from former NSA sub contractor Edward Snowden. These files revealed unbeknownst to the American public details about multiple global surveillance programs currently being used by the United States NSA to collect their private data. Greenwald’s speech on “Why Privacy Matters,” during the TEDGlobal 2014 conference was compelling & deeply insightful. By providing the audience with credible knowledge of his research in addition to the use persuasive emotional and logical reasoning, Glenn Greenwald effectively argues the importance of privacy.

The United States has increased its surveillance through programs by the National Security Agency that collect and examine data on Internet and communication by Americans. Innocent civilians are tracked in search of international terrorists hence sparked the debate on civil liberties over national security. However, according to Thomas Friedman, there was the need to shift from ‘war on terrorists’ to ‘war on terrorism’

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.

On the 20th of May 2013, Edward Snowden arrived in Hong Kong carrying four laptops that would assist him in gaining access to some of the government’s most highly classified information. Twelve days later he met with journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill along with documentary creator Laura Poitras. Code by code, Snowden began to unveil to them the secrets behind the government’s security systems and showed them documents proving that the NSA (National Security Agency) had been storing gargantuan amounts of data about the day to day lives of every day citizens. With

In 2013, it was revealed by Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency (NSA) was spying on the public through tapping phones and internet records. Snowden encountered an ethical dilemma when he had to choose between being loyal to his employer and informing the public about the mass surveillance. While the intentions of the NSA were to keep the American public safe, their method of mass surveillance is a violation of people’s privacy and ineffective at stopping crime. This can be explained by examining who Edward Snowden is, why he exposed the mass surveillance scandal, and what exactly the mass surveillance scandal was. Edward Snowden worked as a system administrator for the NSA, where he was exposed to a lot of the NSA’s secrets and documents (Greenwald 2015:

It’s the summer of 2013; media outlets everywhere were plastering the words “NSA” and “Snowden” across their broadcasts. What did this mean for the typical citizen and who was Snowden? In June 2013 a man named Edward Snowden who worked with the National Security Agency (NSA) released over 1.7 million documents of NSA data to the public (“Edward Snowden”). There were many questions to be asked and an overwhelming amount of information and misinformation provided by the media.

The article, “Why Edward Snowden is a Hero,” penned by John Cassidy, seeks to illuminate the actions of Edward Snowden. As an international controversial figure, Snowden is responsible for leaking enormous amounts of classified information regarding the National Security Agency (N.S.A.). Cassidy contends the data Snowden disclosed to the public revealed that the government actively, knowingly, and deliberately trampled upon the liberties of the American people, by spying on them. Cassidy’s article argues: “Snowden has brought to light important information that deserved to be in the public domain, while doing no lasting harm to the national security of his country.” (Cassidy 2) Comparing the law against Snowden’s actions appears to dismay the populace; the notion that upstanding citizens do not break the law gets in the way of their ability to perceive “real” justice. Corruption, especially government corruption, must be stopped once encountered in any capacity, or our collective liberties may fall. Cassidy maintains Snowden’s hero status, as he perhaps purposefully did not provide an accounting of “algorithms that the N.S.A. uses.” (Cassidy 2) If so, this testifies to his ultimate goodness, by not providing the United States’ populace or rival countries with “groups of individuals” that the N.S.A. targets. (Cassidy 2)

The book centers around the idea that the government surveillance state has gotten so out of hand that it encroaches on every American civil liberties and right to privacy. Greenwald proves his point quite well by using his personal account, classified NSA documents, and a commentary on the political landscape with regards to the U.S. 's view of the surveillance sector. Mr. Greenwald can incorporate the viewpoints of many Americans and foreign countries in a way that only works to support his claim. The book shines a new light into the secret actions of the U.S. government and poses questions of the power of the state versus the rights of the individual.

Poitras traveled to Hong Kong with Glenn Greenwald to interview Snowden and created the third installment of her post-9/11 trilogy, Citizenfour. Concealing in a hotel room with Snowden in eight intense days in Hong Kong, she documented on NSA mass surveillance based on Snowden’s revelations. Citizenfour won Best Documentary at the Academy Award and other

Privacy has endured throughout human history as the pillar upon which our authentic nature rests. Yet, in an age darkened by the looming shadow of terrorism, another force threatens to dominate the skyline and obscure the light of liberty behind promises of safety and security: government surveillance. As an employee of the NSA, Edward Snowden broke his vow of secrecy to inform the public of our government’s furtive surveillance acts, but does this render him traitorous? To answer this, we must first ask ourselves, traitorous to whom? When the very institution established to protect our fundamental liberties intrudes on our privacy from behind a veil of secrecy, should such informed individuals resign from judicious autonomy and

The documentary Citizenfour is an eye opening first hand tale of Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Administration who leaked top secret documents to reporters. The leaked information has transformed the understanding of the American people of the government spying on everyone and anyone they chose to, without probable cause, warrants or constitutional standing. The implications of his actions though specifically unknown at the time, were calculated and deemed well worth his own personal risk to imprisonment, death or the relinquished rights of his United States citizenship.

In Laura Poitra’s documentary CitizenFour we follow Edward Snowden, a former Central Intelligence Agency employee who copied and released classified information from the National Security Agency in 2013, from when Snowden and Poitra initially meet up until the beginning of the leaks and the dramatic days following. After receiving encrypted emails from someone claiming to have secrets on government intelligence, Poitra flew to Hong Kong along with Glenn Greenwald, a reporter for the guardian and met up with the person whom in the emails referred to himself as “CitizenFour”. We then get an inside view of what took place inside the hotel room Snowden stayed in, in an interview style perspective as Snowden explains to Poitra and Greenwald how

Terrorism has become a plague for many nations, and surveillance has become an emerging cure. However, this cure is extremely controversial and was classified as top secret until very recently. In September of 2016, a drama/thriller movie was published on an individual who revealed this classified information called Snowden. Snowden is the Hollywood edition of Edward Snowden’s story. Meanwhile, Citizenfour, a documentary published in October of 2014, is the historical version of the story.

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

The average man has committed no crime. The majority of the populous of all sovereign nations everywhere are innocent, hardworking people. The Government of the United States has failed to recognize this fundamental aspect of the human condition. With targeted, poignant, and deliberate attempts to control the masses, the U.S. Government has made substantial infringements of personal liberties founded during the nation’s conception. Currently, “…the FBI does not need to show ‘probable cause’ – or any reason – to believe that you have done anything wrong [in order to conduct domestic surveillance]” (ACLU, 2). This simple statement drives an entire industry – an industry to control, sell, distribute, and most importantly, store all of your information which will be later used against you. Of course, this data, which is really just evidence, can and will be used against you. Does that phrase sound familiar? Usually your Miranda Rights are read to you after committing a crime – not before. These rights are read to the accused to ensure their protection. The protection of your information online is not ensured; it is infringed upon by the government. Secret courts, complex and obscure acts, and a trigger happy ethos affect every aspect of one’s life everywhere – including Hawaii. Hawaii is where a thirty one year old computer geek, Edward Snowden, lived while working for the NSA as an infrastructure analyst. After discovering the dark