The Case Of Whistleblower Edward Snowden

Another issue in this case is the “theft” that Snowden partook in. Theft is the “act of stealing; the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another; larceny” ("Theft | Define Theft at Dictionary.com." xx). This aspect of the case is important because Snowden’s actions reject the cultural norms of what is expected of individuals in respect to the term. These expectations within our culture is for individuals to not commit acts of theft.

It basically states that the FBI can obtain secret warrants to go through someone’s business files such as “driver’s license records, hotel records, car-rental records, apartment- leasing history and more”. It also says that the person is not allowed to tell anyone that one of these secret searches has been conducted (Carafano). Something else to note about this section is that the rate in which this is used is increasing. In 2009 it was used 21 to 96 orders in 2010. This is an increase of over 400% according to a report from the Washington Post and they also reported that 80% of these requests were to look at internet records. Another shocking piece of the Act is the National Security Letters. What this is, is the FBI can issue these NSLs and will be given access to someone’s phone records and bank account without getting a court order. A complete violation of the fourth amendment again. In 2000 there were 8,500 uses of these letters but from 2003-2006 there was 196,000 letters and that only lead to one terror conviction according to eff.org. These numbers are staggering because that means the government used most of these letters to look at innocent people’s personal

This act makes a significant amount of amendments to the FISA act one of which is Title II which is titled “Enhanced Surveillance Procedures.” While the FISA act targeted only non-US citizens for “foreign intelligence information”, this act allows the collection of foreign intelligence information from US citizens as well. One section which raises a brow is section 215 of the Patriot Act which grants the FBI permission to ask the FISA court to “compel the sharing of books, business documents, tax records, library check-out-lists,” and pretty much any tangible thing, “as part of a foreign intelligence or international terrorism investigation.” Upon further reading of this section it becomes evident fairly quickly that these “required” materials can include purely domestic records. Of course, if one has nothing to hide then one need to fear this act since it is geared towards non-US and US citizens suspected of being affiliated with a foreign power; but later acts seem to notion that perhaps the United States government is not only concerned with terrorist groups but rather all information of its citizens and residents which can build patterned profiles.

The NSA fails to ensure citizens that the targets of the programs are in fact foreigners. NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden states “while NSA may be intending on targeting someone involved with a foreign government or that they suspect of terrorism, they collect everyone's phone data”(NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden). In other words, the NSA collects everyone's phone data, whether suspected of terrorism or not. The ACLU adds that the problem with the FISA act, an amendment signed into law by president bush in 2008 expanded government authority to monitor electronic communications, “permits the government to monitor people who aren’t even thought to be doing anything wrong” (Does the government actually understands the 4th amendment). The government cannot legally collect phone info/data on people without the issue of a warrant. Finally, Edward Snowden claims that he “could wiretap anyone even the president if intending to harm the U.S”(NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden).

One of its most controversial provisions is Section 215, which allows Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents to request "certain business records" after obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court. The FISA court proceedings are secret and its decisions are not subject to appeal. Although libraries and bookstores are not specifically mentioned by the USA PATRIOT Act, many legal experts agree that the section's language allows the FBI to request records from public and university libraries and bookstores. While the language of Section 215 is vague, many privacy and civil liberties advocates claim that authorities may obtain records about who has been borrowing or buying which books or using which Internet

In John Cassidy's article that depicted Snowden as an individual for his actions, spying domestically was an issue most citizens were shocked about. How can one agency see and watch all everywhere? Upon this declaration that was plastered along news threads and the media, Edward has been named a criminal under the law. His act of courage allowed millions to acknowledge the fact of not believing everything they hear. The National Security Agency's programs are now being questioned because of their dishonesty and lack of accurate information for the public. Because of Edward Snowden's undaunted exploit of private government files, tech agencies have furthered their search for better security so that their users can feel safe even in the midst of mass surveillance. Yet, despite several dangerous targets on his back, Snowden remains to believe in his action being done with pure intentions. Speaking bravely

To wrap it all up Edward Snowden is a traitor. He has violated the trust the CIA, NSA, and his bosses had in him to keep this information a secret. This means he has put us citizens in danger. Some might think that his spreading of this information is heroic. However, now that this information has been released there is a greater possibility that it could fall into the wrong hands and families would be put in danger of terrorist attacks. Now he is on the run and the U.S. government must catch him before he and the information he leaked are captured by terrorists and America’s

More than six months after first sending shockwaves through the world, Edward Snowden is alive, not imprisoned, and still making daily headlines. A former National Security Agency contractor, Snowden was responsible for revealing to the American public the existence of enormous, secret government surveillance programs, tactics that irrefutably border unconstitutionality. He gave up his freedom and ultimately his way of life in revealing how the NSA was harvesting and storing global phone records and text messages, the majority sent by ordinary American citizens. Snowden voluntarily broke the law and publicly took credit for his leak’s, rallying behind his core belief that mass surveillance undermines the fundamental right to privacy. He felt

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,”

As history can attest, government whistleblowers act honorably for the greater good despite threat of prosecution. Government transparency, especially in acts of war, is important to a functioning democracy. J. William Leonard, former US classifications czar, In the documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, illustrates, “To have those types of decisions, those types of deliberations, done in secrecy is a tremendous disservice to the American people – because these are things being done in their name – so, whether you agree with them or not, to have a free back-and-forth airing of these is essential”. In support of these concepts, those behind WikiLeaks and other government leaks have taken great risks. Birgitta Jonsdottir, member of WikiLeaks and Icelandic parliament, stated, “We were working on something that we knew that could get us into serious trouble and we were all willing to take that consequence” (“We Steal Secrets”). In We Steal Secrets, instant messages between Bradley Manning and the man who eventually turned him in, hacker

The battle between privacy and security has been a long and brutal fight for the right balance. While many people want more and more privacy, they don't realize the amount of security they lose with every added bit of privacy. Of course if we were to be given more privacy it wouldn't be long before we start asking for more security and be willing to lose some privacy, and naturally this wouldn't happen without a lot of consequences. So some people wonder just how much privacy we really have, but some are sure that we don't really have any and never will know what truely goes on in our government. So what are some cases that expose what that truth is? Wellto start there is the Church Committee and the Snowden Revelations, and both of these

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson walked beside her, along with a group of American security guards. They finally arrived at their destination, a tall tan building that looked completely ordinary. They were escorted to a room by some kind of Russian security. The doors opened and Cynthia looked inside to see a white table and sitting at one end was the one and only Edward Snowden. He had pale skin, brown eyes, and a thin pair of glasses that seemed to make him look even more like a geek, if that is possible. Snowden had been in Russia since 2013, seeking temporary asylum there after exposing NSA surveillance tactics. It is still unknown if he will be able to return.

In 2013 a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) by the name of Edward Snowden stole copies of hundreds of classified documents detailing the extent of the NSA’s digital mass surveillance program. After stealing the documents, he traveled to Hong Kong to meet with several journalists. While in Hong Kong they went over the documents, and the news was published several days later. As the documents revealed, the NSA obtained access to the records and data of many large internet companies, including, but not limited to, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. This enabled the NSA to essentially view all electronic data, private or public, on any American citizen or foreign citizen, whether or not they had a search warrant as per the Fourth Amendment. While Edward Snowden should be punished for illegally leaking classified information which revealed the extent of government surveillance of the common American; the government was still wrong in violating the American people’s constitutional right to privacy and there could be severe consequences for their actions.

We already have proof that the government spies on us. The Snowden “Reveal” in May 2013 leaked documents to the public showing us we are not as safe as we were promised in the constitution. The fourth amendment protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, which internet spying falls under, and any form of unauthorized data storage is against the law. Some of the known examples of this comes from Mitchell shaw’s writings, “ The U.S. government agencies routinely spy on everyone including American citizens. Programs with names such as PRISM, MYSTIC Boundless Informant, and Xkeyscore wiere in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment's guarantee”(Shaw). These agencies were said to have been brought to a new checking system

Intelligence officials are now being forced to join the debate, while President Obama has authorized the declassification of thousands of documents. Current and former officials say that Snowden releasing the documents has triggered groups like Al-Qaeda and associates changing their tactics. In July, Snowden confirmed that he has not released anything that could put any other officials in danger or the sources of the documents, he has only released files on surveillance. While staying in Hong Kong, Snowden gave an interview to the South China Morning Post, in which he describe how the U.S. has been spying on Chinese Universities. Disclosing this frustrated Americans who were attempting to embarrass China so it would reduce its Industrial-Espionage efforts. A story in Der Spiegel, using some of the Snowden documents, showed British spies working with the U.S. government, using fake LinkedIn accounts to install malware on computers used by Foreign Telecom Providers. Telecommunications companies, who are known for working with the NSA, have also taken hits from the leaks. Now living in Russia, Snowden does not believe every story is true, which is why he doesn’t defend all of them. Snowden says he has designed his actions to ensure that he was not the sole person deciding whether or not some of the documents should be seen by public eye. In August 2014 Snowden's refugee status expired, he can either renew his refugee status or he can apply for Russian citizenship. It is still unclear what will happen to Snowden if he ever comes back to the U.S. if he does, he should be guaranteed a fair trial like everyone else. In conclusion, through everything Snowden has done, which do include major crimes, Snowden may be a complete villain in the eyes of most, but in the eyes of everyone else, Snowden is a