Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWikiLeaksChannel · CC BY 3.0 · source
Name	Edward Snowden
Caption	Snowden in 2013
Birth name	Edward Joseph Snowden
Birth date	21 June 1983
Birth place	Elizabeth City, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Former CIA employee, former NSA contractor
Known for	Disclosing global surveillance programs
Spouse	Lindsay Mills (m. 2017)

Edward Snowden. A former contractor for the National Security Agency and employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, he gained international attention in 2013 by disclosing a vast array of classified documents to journalists. These leaks revealed extensive global surveillance programs run by the Five Eyes alliance, fundamentally altering public discourse on privacy and state security. His actions led to charges under the Espionage Act of 1917 and he has lived in asylum in Russia since that time.

Early life and career

Born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, he spent much of his youth in the Fort Meade area of Maryland. His early interest in computing led him to forgo formal education at Anne Arundel Community College and instead pursue a career in technology and security. He joined the United States Army in 2004 with hopes of serving in the Iraq War, but was discharged after a training injury. Subsequently, he secured a position as a security guard at the University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language, a facility with ties to the National Security Agency. His technical skills facilitated a rapid career shift, leading to employment with the Central Intelligence Agency in information technology and later as a contractor for the NSA through firms like Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked at facilities in Hawaii and Japan.

NSA disclosures

In early 2013, while stationed at the NSA's Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center in Hawaii, he began copying a large volume of classified documents. In May of that year, he traveled to Hong Kong and met with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian. The subsequent publications, beginning in June 2013, exposed numerous global surveillance programs. Key revelations included PRISM, which collected data from major internet companies like Google and Facebook, and Tempora, a GCHQ initiative. Other programs detailed were XKeyscore, a broad internet data analysis tool, and the monitoring of communications of world leaders, including Angela Merkel of Germany. The disclosures provided evidence of bulk data collection on millions of citizens by agencies like the NSA and GCHQ, sparking a global debate.

Aftermath and asylum

Following the publication of the first articles, the United States Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint, and the U.S. State Department revoked his passport. While attempting to travel to Latin America via Moscow, he was stranded in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo International Airport after the U.S. government pressured potential host nations. During this period, he met with representatives from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. After over a month in the airport, he was granted temporary asylum in Russia, a status that was later extended and eventually converted to permanent residency. His presence in Moscow has been a persistent diplomatic issue between the United States and the Russian Federation, with the Obama administration and subsequent Trump administration demanding his return to face trial.

Public image and impact

The leaks triggered intense and polarized reactions globally. He has been hailed as a whistleblower and a hero by civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2014. Internationally, figures like Julian Assange of WikiLeaks offered support, and he was the subject of the documentary Citizenfour by Laura Poitras. Conversely, many in the U.S. government and intelligence community, including former officials like Michael Hayden and Mike Rogers, labeled him a traitor whose actions damaged vital signals intelligence capabilities. The disclosures led to significant legal and policy changes, including the passage of the USA Freedom Act, which ended the NSA's bulk telephone metadata program, and spurred major rulings on surveillance by the European Court of Justice.

Legal status and charges

In June 2013, he was charged with theft of government property and multiple violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The charges, filed by the United States Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder, carry severe penalties. Successive administrations have maintained that he should return to the U.S. to stand trial, rejecting claims that he acted as a whistleblower entitled to protection. His legal team, which has included attorneys like Ben Wizner of the ACLU, has argued that he could not receive a fair trial under the Espionage Act. Efforts to secure a plea deal or a presidential pardon, including appeals to Barack Obama and later Donald Trump, have been unsuccessful, leaving him subject to prosecution should he leave Russia. Category:American whistleblowers Category:People granted asylum in Russia