Edward Snowden: from computer scientist to whistleblower
Edward Snowden, a computer scientist and former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and later the US National Security Agency (NSA), released 1.7 million top-secret NSA documents in June 2013 on the global surveillance of the internet, mobile phones and other communications. He particularly denounced the electronic surveillance program, PRISM. An NSA-operated eavesdropping system that targets people outside the United States. Other surveillance programs such as Xkeyscore, Tempora and Boundless informant were revealed.
Its main objective was to inform the public of the surveillance that was being carried out without their knowledge. Between phone tapping, e-mail interception, corporate espionage, and allied governments, the United States had become a real spy on the world. According to the Norwegian daily Dagbladet, in 2012, the NSA spied on 33 million telephone calls in the space of thirty days.
Strong support from the international press
In order to reveal this secret information, Snowden initially contacted anonymously a journalist at the Guardian, a British newspaper, named Glenn Greenwald. On 6 June 2013, he published a first article on the massive spying, particularly on Verizon’s telephone calls. This was followed by an article in the Washington Post by Laura Poitras, a documentary filmmaker, whom Snowden had later contacted. She had already devoted an article to William Binney, another computer scientist, a whistleblower in the NSA’s spying programmes. This time the article revealed the PRISM surveillance programme.
Thanks to the support of the international press, Edward Snowden made the world discover the most secret documents of the great power that is the United States.
An identity that emerges from the shadows
On 9 June 2013, Snowden’s identity was publicly disclosed to the press with his consent. He was then fired from Booz Allen Hamilton the next day for violating the company’s code of ethics and policy. Booz Allen Hamilton is an American company whose primary business is the provision of management, technology, and security services. Snowden was one of its employees from 2009 to 2013.
On June 22nd 2013, following the revelations, Edward Snowden was indicted by the US government for espionage, theft, and illegal use of government property.
He then went into exile in Hong Kong and then in Moscow where he was granted temporary asylum on the 31st of July 2013. A year later, he obtained a right of residence for three years in Russia. This right was extended until 2020.
A man with a very controversial status
While Snowden is seen by some as a courageous whistleblower, others are less convinced and see him more as a traitor. According to a nationwide survey conducted by Quinnipiac University on 8 August 2013, 55% of American voters believe that Snowden is a whistleblower who has done a public service by raising the debate. Another 34% consider him to be a traitor to his country.
However, the image of the American hero has been slightly mocked since he became a Russian citizen. On September 26th 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting citizenship to Edward Snowden. Because of the tensions between the two powers, his asylum in enemy territory was not really appreciated by the American population.
The impact of such a revelation on American society
One month after the Edward Snowden revelations, US parliamentarians have in turn denounced the NSA’s surveillance programmes as violating the privacy of citizens.
In 2015, the NSA stopped collecting telephone metadata on American soil. This data will now be stored by operators. Agencies will only be able to access it by order of a special court.
In the same vein, in June 2015 the United States Congress passed a law to better regulate the surveillance carried out by the NSA. This law is called the Freedom Act, the successor to the Patriot Act. An anti-terrorism law, which stipulated that people not linked to terrorist operations could be subject to surveillance.
Then, on September 2nd 2020, a US federal court ruled that the US intelligence mass surveillance programme denounced by Edward Snowden was illegal and unconstitutional. The appeals court also ruled that the US intelligence officials, who publicly defended it, were not telling the truth.
