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| Edward Snowden worked as an IT contractor for the NSA. Image: Shutterstock |
Defense intelligence
contractor Edward
Snowden has taken a different approach to previous people in the
intelligence community who want to leak information to the press. Rather than taking steps to create anonymity,
Snowed has come out in public and met with a documentary film maker and
reporter from the Guardian to expose top secret surveillance programs currently
being conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Now, he has sought political asylum in Hong Kong and says that he
does not want to hide from the ramifications of his actions, but rather bring
the entire debate to the public forum.
He says he believes in the court of Hong Kong to grant him asylum, the
one exception to Hong Kong’s extradition agreement with the U.S.
Snowden claims that as an
IT officer in the intelligence service, he had access to a broader spectrum of
information than most employees, and while he expected being in the field he
was in to run across a few programs that seemed questionable, he felt he was
seeing disturbing information almost every day.
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| Snowden believes the information collected could be used at the whimsy of the NSA. Image: Shutterstock |
After trying multiple times to talk to people about the data that the
NSA was collecting from nearly all cellular phone and internet users, he felt
it was necessary for the public to decide whether the NSA programs were
legal. Snowden believes that due to the
nature of how the NSA collects and stores information about average citizens
suggests that anyone could fall under suspicion and be twisted into a case of
wrong doing at the whimsy of the agency.
The NSA is in damage
control mode. Rather than painting Snowden as a traitor, NSA director General
Keith Alexander is speaking through media outlets an assurance to the public
that data collection is a necessary part of maintaining security, and that
cyber-attacks remain one of the largest threats to national security
today. Defenders of intelligence insist
that the NSA is not in violation of the constitution, but refuses to comment on
the intentions on how to pursue Snowden.
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