Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
Primarily, the facts that are needed to address what exactly did Snowden wrong is what actually was inside the leaks. Edward Snowden did not dump sensitive data onto the Internet for the entire world, including enemies of America, to see. Snowden meticulously vetted the documents and data he collected to make sure that the leaks released contained only that which pertained to the N.S.A’s illegal collecting of phone logs, user data, and other private information. Even with the monitoring of overseas and foreign officials, N.S.A’s sweeping data collection technologies pulled out millions of private details from prominent U.S based internet companies, including Facebook, Google, and Yahoo. All of these activities were completed without specific warrants from courts that would otherwise either allow or deny these collections. The lack of oversi...
... middle of paper ...
...e administration plans to introduce legislation that would alter the N.S.A’s privacy breaches and end its illegal data collections. Citing an identical argument, that the government cannot indicate terrorist attacks that have been stopped by the intelligence gathering programs, a review group of the Administration “called for major changes to the program; the latter also concluded that the bulk collection is illegal.”3
Rather than allow the numerous repercussions Snowden now faces stop him, Snowden chose to make the public aware of wrongs committed against them, even if it meant going against the government. The American people and their right to their privacy drove Edward Snowden to make a personal decision, and the result was not that of a traitor, but that of a hero and a man undeserving of the hatred and rejection made by the country he was striving to support.
Recently in global news, the name Edward Snowden has became quite popular as he snatched millions of people’s attention along with breaking news headlines. Snowden released numerous documents via internet that were private to the NSA; these leaks revealed the dirty work the NSA and government have ...
Edward Snowden is America’s most recent controversial figure. People can’t decide if he is their hero or traitor. Nevertheless, his leaks on the U.S. government surveillance program, PRISM, demand an explanation. Many American citizens have been enraged by the thought of the government tracing their telecommunication systems. According to factbrowser.com 54% of internet users would rather have more online privacy, even at the risk of security (Facts Tagged with Privacy). They say it is an infringement on their privacy rights of the constitution. However, some of them don’t mind; they believe it will help thwart the acts of terrorists. Both sides make a good point, but the inevitable future is one where the government is adapting as technology is changing. In order for us to continue living in the new digital decade, we must accept the government’s ability to surveil us.
If someone broke the law trying to help the American keep their constitutional rights, would you consider them a hero or a criminal? Well that’s exactly what’s going on today with Edward Snowden. In 2013 Edward Snowden leaked classified information to the American people, information that shined a light on the dark things that the U.S government was doing behind closed doors. He revealed that the U.S government has been going against the constitution and taking away our freedoms. The U.S government has been taking away our freedoms however, Snowden is being called the criminal. Thesis Statement here.
Cassidy, John. "Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero." The New Yorker. N.p., 10 June 2013. Web. 15 Feb.
In early June 2013, Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former defense contractor who had access to NSA database while working for an intelligence consulting company, leaked classified documents reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is recording phone calls of millions of Americans along with gathering private data and spying foreign Internet activity. The Washington Post later broke the news disclosed PRISM, a program can collect data on Internet users. The leaked documents publicly stated a vast objection. Many people were shocked by the scale of the programs, even elected representatives were unaware of the surveillance range. A nationwide debate over privacy rights have been sparked. Although supporters claim that the NSA only does its best to protect the United States from terrorists as well as respecting Americans' rights and privacy, many civil rights advocates feel that the government failed to be clear about the limit of the surveillance programs, threatening Americans' civil...
Currently, Snowden’s leaks have revealed a global surveillance apparatus used by the NSA as well as Britain’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group, a surveillance apparatus in the UK that conducts real time monitoring of social media networks. The exact size of Snowden's disclosure is unknown, but the following are possible: 15,000 or more Australian intelligence files, according to Australian officials9; at least 58,000 British intelligence files, according to British officials10; and roughly 1.7 million U.S. intelligence files, according to U.S. officials.11 Snowden’s leaks are unprecedented on several levels. His disclosure has been called the most significant leak in U.S. history by Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg.12 Regardless of future action, the debate on the protection of...
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.
Edward Snowden used to work for the NSA, a secret government surveillance program that collects private information. Snowden decided that keeping the program secret from the American people was immoral and tricked one of his superiors into giving him access to the database. He stole thousands of confidential documents created by the NSA, many of which are documents of personal and private information recovered from communication devices. This collection incriminated the NSA in illegal spying activities. After doing this, Snowden went to the media with the information, and the whole scandal was born.
Now, the debate rages on: Is Edward Snowden an American hero or an American villain. The United States government wants to bring treason and espionage against him for leaking some of the most confidential government secrets, but, what most people didn’t know before this whole debacle was that the government was uncontrollably spying on its people using any type of phone, tablet, or computer, Now the government’s response to the outrage of the people would be that they are protecting them from possible terrorists, but some may still ask the question of: Is the government violating my privacy? After gathering all the information, it is up to you to decide: Is Edward Snowden an American hero for exposing to the people of the U.S. the government’s dirty spying secrets or is he an American traitor guilty of espionage and treason?
It is clear that Edward Snowden prior to his disclosure has think about all the consequences beforehand and decided this is the righteous thing to do. I too, believe that his action is the right thing to do and will produce a greater good.
The rebuttal to the Snowden’s labeling as a whistleblower and patriot stems from the same ethical theory’s that would label him as a traitor and thief. The preceding is indicative of ethical dilemma which encompasses this case. Snowden’s work involved a large amount of responsibility in safe guarding the information that he had access to. Nonetheless, the information Snowden attained conflicted with the morals, reasoning and values that Snowden holds as an individual. The preceding traits are awarded with the same decency by many individuals within our society and this is why many people support Snowden’s actions.
Probably the most well known of these whistle blowers is Edward Snowden, who worked as a computer analyst for the CIA and as a subcontractor to the NSA. Interestingly enough, Snowden’s revelations about the government’s mass surveillance of US citizens are not new news. As early as 2001 an NSA high-ranking official named William Binney revealed that the agency had developed very expensive Internet surveillance programs including “Trail Blazer” and “Thin Thread.” Binney claimed that the NSA stepped up its surveillance of US citizens following the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. Binney, considered “one of the best mathematicians and code breakers in National Security Agency” resigned from the NSA in late 2001 because he “could not stay after the NSA began purposefully violating the Constitution.” Binney c...
Many people have mixed feelings about how they should differentiate Edward Snowden as a hero or a traitor. It is true what he had done was unjust and could have been handled another way without all the drama and getting nicknamed traitor by many and hero by few. His act on the NSA forced him into making a deal with Russia to stay at an asylum for a year, because some people in Russia believed in what he had done and did not doubt him unlike some people who thought of Snowden as a traitor to the government. There has been many polls, articles and interviews on Edward Snowden and how people thinks about his act of “exposing” the NSA for spying into the citizens personal life. Some may differ with Snowden by saying, what the NSA is doing is to protect the pe...
Snowden's confession over exposing the confidential documents that reveals the NSA's surveillance program has influenced the public with different interpretation. In his interview, Snowden stated that “ The public needs to decide whether these programs, and polices are right or wrong.” The face-work of Edward Snowden provided to the public by using the free press is in a justice image of him. His stated that the disclosure of the U.S. government and NSA is to let people to see the truth and their life has been compromised. Some people perceive...
In conclusion, Edward Snowden was justified in leaking the unlawful actions conducted by the NSA because he wanted to uphold the constitutional rights of privacy, which Americans are entitled to. While few may view Edward Snowden as a traitor for sharing sensitive information to the public, many commend him for his courageousness. Snowden broke the law in order to expose the unlawful practices conducted by governments officials. It is unfortunate to live in a society where the people elected to protect the rights of the people are the ones violating them.. It takes a lot of strength and courage for one man to stand up against the government, to protect the rights of an entire nation. Edward Snowden will go down in history as one of the most notorious whistle blowers