“If you’re not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't be worried about being watched.” (Tom Leighton). This quote exudes a classic viewpoint that many American citizens share. Most Americans believe that the government should not be able to see everything that they do if they have done nothing illegal or suspicious. However, many hidden governmental practices fell contrary to this quote. Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, stole classified documents from the NSA database exposing illegal governmental surveillance of US citizens, and foreign countries, before leaking them to multiple journalists. To properly respond to the Edward Snowden leaks, the citizens of America must view him as an individual whose intentions were good, but whose executions
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He only stayed for three months, however. During these three months, Snowden illegally downloaded top-secret files concerning American programs of national and international surveillance. Snowden uncovered that the US had almost 100 surveillance team locations around the world (Szoldra), that the American government bugged the offices of the EU (Szoldra), that the US regularly spies on countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Vatican City (Szoldra), and other treasure troves of newly uncovered illegal NSA activity. Also, Snowden found out that NSA programs like XKeyscore, or XKS, and PRISM collect all data on everything that someone does on the internet. (Szoldra). These programs were wrongly hidden by the government, and Snowden acted as a whistleblower to the American public. Overall, Snowden downloaded over one million documents that exposed wrongdoings inside the NSA. (Szoldra)
While the government did promise changes to these programs, not much has been done. Barack Obama, the President at the time, promised to review and reform these unlawful programs and he tasked reformists and security experts to do this job (Childress). There have been a couple reports issued on this topic, but overall, not a lot of change has occurred overall. The government can still gather information without a warrant, telephone data is still being …show more content…
Snowden said that “[he] carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest” (Edward Snowden, ℅ Gellman). Many people wondered how and why he did these things, and conflict erupted all across America. American citizens were divided on this issue. Some people believed that Snowden was a traitor. They thought that his actions were detrimental to the US and that he should be put on trial and sent to jail, or even military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Others assumed that he was a patriot. They thought that he should be granted immunity and let back into the US with no consequences. And even others believed a mix of those two ideas. For example, most people who fit into that category believed that what Snowden did was right but how he did it was
He only stayed for three months, however. During these three months, Snowden illegally downloaded top-secret files concerning American programs of national and international surveillance. Snowden uncovered that the US had almost 100 surveillance team locations around the world (Szoldra), that the American government bugged the offices of the EU (Szoldra), that the US regularly spies on countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Vatican City (Szoldra), and other treasure troves of newly uncovered illegal NSA activity. Also, Snowden found out that NSA programs like XKeyscore, or XKS, and PRISM collect all data on everything that someone does on the internet. (Szoldra). These programs were wrongly hidden by the government, and Snowden acted as a whistleblower to the American public. Overall, Snowden downloaded over one million documents that exposed wrongdoings inside the NSA. (Szoldra)
While the government did promise changes to these programs, not much has been done. Barack Obama, the President at the time, promised to review and reform these unlawful programs and he tasked reformists and security experts to do this job (Childress). There have been a couple reports issued on this topic, but overall, not a lot of change has occurred overall. The government can still gather information without a warrant, telephone data is still being …show more content…
Snowden said that “[he] carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest” (Edward Snowden, ℅ Gellman). Many people wondered how and why he did these things, and conflict erupted all across America. American citizens were divided on this issue. Some people believed that Snowden was a traitor. They thought that his actions were detrimental to the US and that he should be put on trial and sent to jail, or even military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Others assumed that he was a patriot. They thought that he should be granted immunity and let back into the US with no consequences. And even others believed a mix of those two ideas. For example, most people who fit into that category believed that what Snowden did was right but how he did it was