Published January 11, 2014, 11:33 PM
Letter: Edward Snowden is a whistleblower
Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA routinely lied to Congress, which is a serious federal crime. These revelations make him a whistleblower who should be protected under U.S. law.
By: John Viacrucis, Moorhead, INFORUM
Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA routinely lied to Congress, which is a serious federal crime. These revelations make him a whistleblower who should be protected under U.S. law.
By their own account, the NSA violated privacy laws thousands of times each year. The NSA hacked into the encryption systems most frequently utilized on the Internet, which throws into question the level of privacy available to Internet users, such as myself.
Multiple federal judges have ruled that the NSA spying program is unconstitutional, calling the program “Orwellian” and in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Snowden can’t return to the U.S. without threat of detainment and prosecution by the U.S. government.
Snowden is a whistleblower, not a traitor. Congress should reform the NSA through bills such as those proposed by Reps. Rush Holt and Jim Sensenbrenner, and grant clemency for Snowden so that he can return to the U.S. without threat of prosecution.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/423340/group/Opinion/
An Open Letter to the People of Brazil
By EDWARD SNOWDEN Folha de S.Paulo, 16 December 2013
Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government's National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist's camera.
I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what we say.
I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live.
My greatest fear was that no one would listen to my warning. Never have I been so glad to have been so wrong. The reaction in certain countries has been particularly inspiring to me, and Brazil is certainly one of those.
At the NSA, I witnessed with growing alarm the surveillance of whole populations without any suspicion of wrongdoing, and it threatens to become the greatest human rights challenge of our time.
The NSA and other spying agencies tell us that for our own "safety" --for Dilma's "safety," for Petrobras' "safety"-- they have revoked our right to privacy and broken into our lives. And they did it without asking the public in any country, even their own.
Today, if you carry a cell phone in Sao Paolo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world.
When someone in Florianopolis visits a website, the NSA keeps a record of when it happened and what you did there. If a mother in Porto Alegre calls her son to wish him luck on his university exam, NSA can keep that call log for five years or more.
They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target's reputation.
American Senators tell us that Brazil should not worry, because this is not "surveillance," it's "data collection." They say it is done to keep you safe. They're wrong.
There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement --where individuals are targeted based on a reasonable, individualized suspicion - and these programs of dragnet mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and save copies forever.
These programs were never about terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're about power.
Many Brazilian senators agree, and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens.
I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful, but unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so --going so far as to force down the Presidential Plane of Evo Morales to prevent me from traveling to Latin America!
Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak.
Six months ago, I revealed that the NSA wanted to listen to the whole world. Now, the whole world is listening back, and speaking out, too. And the NSA doesn't like what it's hearing.
The culture of indiscriminate worldwide surveillance, exposed to public debates and real investigations on every continent, is collapsing.
Only three weeks ago, Brazil led the United Nations Human Rights Committee to recognize for the first time in history that privacy does not stop where the digital network starts, and that the mass surveillance of innocents is a violation of human rights.
The tide has turned, and we can finally see a future where we can enjoy security without sacrificing our privacy. Our rights cannot be limited by a secret organization, and American officials should never decide the freedoms of Brazilian citizens.
Even the defenders of mass surveillance, those who may not be persuaded that our surveillance technologies have dangerously outpaced democratic controls, now agree that in democracies, surveillance of the public must be debated by the public.
My act of conscience began with a statement: "I don't want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded.
That's not something I'm willing to support, it's not something I'm willing to build, and it's not something I'm willing to live under."
Days later, I was told my government had made me stateless and wanted to imprison me. The price for my speech was my passport, but I would pay it again: I will not be the one to ignore criminality for the sake of political comfort. I would rather be without a state than without a voice.
If Brazil hears only one thing from me, let it be this: when all of us band together against injustices and in defense of privacy and basic human rights, we can defend ourselves from even the most powerful systems.
SOURCE Folha de S.Paulo
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/world/2013/12/1386296-an-…
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TOP STORIES / World
NSA Scandal
Edward Snowden's Christmas message
American whistleblower Edward Snowden has been keeping a low profile since going into exile in Russia in August. Now he's back in the public eye, with both a new interview and a Christmas message for the world.
Edward Snowden
What do Pope Francis, German President Joachim Gauck and the American "whistleblower" Edward Snowden have in common? This year all three of them have broadcast a Christmas message in which they reflect on their own actions and those of their fellow human beings. Pope Francis did so at the Christmas Eve Mass in the Vatican, Joachim Gauck on German television, and Snowden's forum was the British television broadcaster Channel 4.
For the past 20 years, Channel 4 has broadcast an "alternative" Christmas message as part of its program. It's always an unusual speech by people from whom one would not necessarily expect a Christmas message, such as the then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2008.
Comparison with Orwell's '1984'
Snowden's television address was his first appearance in several months. The pre-recorded video was broadcast on Wednesday (25.12.2013) at 5.15 p.m. UK time. In it, Snowden warned viewers about the risks inherent in the way we use modern technology.
"A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all," he said. "They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves, an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought. And that's a problem, because privacy matters."
He reminded us that, this year, we learned that governments had introduced a system of mass surveillance that watches everything we do.
Snowden also pointed out that the writer George Orwell warned decades ago - in his science fiction novel "1984"- about the dangers of this kind of mass gathering of information; but he added that the cameras installed by Orwell's "Big Brother" were nothing compared to what is going on today.
Referring to the worldwide spread of smartphones with GPS sensors, the whistleblower warned: "We have sensors in our pockets that follow us wherever we go."
Snowden wanted to 'improve' the NSA
Plaque outside the US National Security Agency
Snowden warns of the danger of total surveillance
On Tuesday Snowden broke his silence with an extended interview conducted from his Russian exile. He spoke to a journalist from the American newspaper the Washington Post over two days in Moscow, and took stock of the surveillance scandal he initiated by leaking classified documents of the US National Security Agency.
"For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished. I already won," he said, meaning that he had succeeded in his aim of generating a public debate. "All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed."
Snowden said he has been less worried about the personal consequences the revelations would have for him, and more that they would fail to galvanize people into action.
A few days ago (20.12.2013), US President Barack Obama said at a press conference in the White House that Snowden had caused the United States "unnecessary damage." Snowden indirectly refuted this in the interview: "I am still working for the NSA right now," he said. "They are the only ones who don't realize it."
Merkelphone affair
Chancellor Merkel in a white suit concentrating on listening to an earpiece
Even the cellphone of German chancellor Angela Merkel was tapped
Snowden seems to care about the United States' reputation in other countries. In the interview he specifically mentioned Germany, where the spying scandal had a particular impact . There was outrage across the political spectrum at the revelation that Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone had been tapped by the US authorities.
"It's the deception of the government that's revealed," Snowden stressed. "The U.S. government said: 'We follow German laws in Germany. We never target German citizens.'" However, it subsequently became clear that even the chancellor had been spied on, and Snowden has no doubt as to the implications for the US government. He addressed it directly in the interview: "You just lied to the entire country, in front of Congress," he said.
In his Christmas TV message Snowden exhorted the viewers to take such matters up with their governments: "Remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying. Merry Christmas!"
http://www.dw.de/edward-snowdens-christmas-message/a-17324362