In 2013, Edward Snowden, an IT systems expert working under contract for the National Security Agency provided jaw-dropping revelations that made U.S. tech companies now encrypt much of their Web traffic for security reasons. This eventually led to revisions in laws and rules controlling American intelligence agencies.
In that same year, Snowden traveled to Hong Kong to provide three journalists with thousands of top-secret papers about U.S. intelligence agencies’ surveillance of American individuals.
To Snowden, the sensitive information he released with the journalists exposed privacy breaches by government intelligence agencies. He considered himself a whistleblower. But the U.S. government labeled him a traitor in violation of the Espionage Act.
After meeting with the media, Snowden intended to leave Hong Kong and go — via Russia — to Ecuador, where he would seek asylum. But when his plane landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, things didn’t go according to plan.
“What I wasn’t expecting was that the United States government itself … would cancel my passport,” he says.
Russian intelligence agents led Snowden to a room and offered to help in exchange for information on any secrets he could be keeping. Apparently, according to Snowden, he flat-out declined.
He claims, “I didn’t assist with the Russian intelligence agencies; I haven’t and I won’t.” “The archive was no longer accessible to me because I had removed my access to it. Before leaving Hong Kong, I was unprepared since I anticipated going through this convoluted multi-jurisdictional route.”
Snowden attempted to gain refuge in other countries during his 40 days spent waiting in the Moscow airport. After being turned down for refuge in 27 different countries, he eventually made his way to Russia, where he still resides.
In his autobiography Permanent Record, he discusses his life and his time spent working in the intelligence agency. Unfortunately, on September 17, the U.S. Justice Department filed suit to recover all proceeds from the book, alleging that Snowden had violated nondisclosure agreements by not letting the government review the manuscript before publication.
Snowden’s attorney, Ben Wizner, said in a statement that the book contains no government secrets that have not been previously published by respected news organizations, and that the government’s prepublication review system is under court challenge.
Interview Highlights with Edward Snowden
Researching China’s surveillance capabilities for a CIA presentation made him consider U.S. domestic spying.
I’ve been asked to give a presentation on how China is hacking U.S. intelligence services, defense contractors, and anything else that we have available on our network, a topic I know a little bit about but not that much about, because the person who was supposed to give the presentation has canceled. So I investigate… to determine just what China is doing. What are their strengths? Are they engaging in hacking? Conduct domestic surveillance? Are they conducting global surveillance? What is happening?
I am astounded by the scope of their powers. I’m disturbed by how aggressively they employ them. But also, in a curious way, startled by how freely they employ them. They are not concealing it. They are simply forthright and outspoken, stating, “Yes, we will do this. We are, indeed, hacking you. What are your plans in response?”
And I believe this is a distinction: I believe that yeah, the NSA is spying — of course they are spying — but we only spy overseas; we do not spy on our own citizens. We would never do so. We have firewalls and tripwires for individuals to activate. However, because we are not China, I believe that only terrorists are affected. However, this sows the first seeds of doubt on the capability.
His findings on U.S. domestic surveillance
In retrospect over the course of my career’s final years, I can see that the United States and the Chinese government both possess and use the same skills, but for different ends. The NSA has a secret internal policy that states their ultimate goal is to “collect it all,” which they have never admitted to publicly. Since you never know what might be of interest, this means that they were gathering and intercepting communications from everyone, all the time, not only criminals, spies, terrorists, and people of intelligence value. And if you don’t catch it while it’s in transit, you might never see it again.
What this meant was that the Fourth Amendment’s protections were being pushed further and more out every time an email was sent, a Google query was entered, a text message was sent, or a phone conversation was made. Even most members of Congress were in the dark about this. And this is when I start to wonder if we don’t need to know about it, if Congress and the courts didn’t have the same policies as the Chinese government if they had this information.
On breaching an oath by keeping quiet about government spying
First thing I did when I started working for the CIA was take an oath of loyalty. This may seem obvious, but many individuals are misinformed and assume that you have to take an oath of confidentiality. All information is confidential under the agreement. Standard Form 312 is a government non-disclosure agreement that is the product of a civil agreement. Oaths of service are not the same as oaths of silence or non-disclosure, which I have broken by writing a book and talking to the press. The oath is not to any one organization, country, or president but rather to uphold and defend the United States Constitution from all foes, both at home and abroad.
And so, when I learned that the United States government had been secretly violating the Fourth Amendment of that Constitution for the better part of a decade, and that the rate of violation was increasing and the scope of the violation was increasing with every day, and that we were committing felonies in the United States under a direct mandate from the White House billions of times a day, I honestly fell into depression. Finally, I asked myself, “How can I get by?” For a while after this, I returned to… a strictly corporate position for Dell as a sales official at CIA headquarters, leaving behind my time in Japan performing what would be called direct mission-related work in the overseas field.
On sharing sensitive information with journalists and setting publishing conditions
By providing documents to journalists but never publishing them myself, I attempted to rebuild the system of checks and balances. It is not widely known that I have never released any of my writings to the general audience. I looked to the media to determine what information the public actually needed to know. I insisted that the journalists notify the government that they were planning to run a story on the program and that the government may object to the story’s publication by saying something like, “You’ve got it wrong,” or “You’ve got it right.” But someone will be harmed if you release this information. As far as I am aware, this procedure has always been followed, which is why, as of the year 2019, the government has never shown any proof that anyone has been harmed as a result of these reports. (Editor’s note: a report from the House Intelligence Committee in 2016 detailed over 20 ways in which Snowden was detrimental to national security. Those cases’ specifics were blacked out.
On being delayed at Moscow’s airport for 40 days before being granted asylum in Russia
If you think I’m a Russian spy, then I should have spent no more than five minutes in the airport before being whisked away in a limousine to the palace where I’d be spending the rest of my life and before the parade where they name me a hero of Russia. Rather, I spent 40 days stranded at this airport.
The United States administration made significant efforts to prevent me from leaving Russia. I don’t understand why the United States government tried so hard to prohibit me from leaving Russia. They either panicked or realized this would be an evergreen political attack where they could just use guilt by association, people’s suspicion of the Russian government to try to taint me by proxy, and we may never know the real reason why until more people in the Obama administration start writing memoirs.
On his life in Russia and if he receives government funding
I live on my own in a separate apartment. I am financially independent. Right now, I’m completely self-sufficient. I have never, and will never, take any form of financial or other official aid from Russia.
In response to the question, “What do you do for a living?” I lecture. For the American Program Bureau, I give public talks on topics like the state of cybersecurity in the future, the state of surveillance today, and the role of conscience and whistleblower in the workplace. The club scene has never been my thing. I’m more of a house cat than anything else. I’ve spent much of my time in Maryland, New York, Geneva, Tokyo, and Moscow staring into a screen because I find what’s on the other side to be aesthetically pleasing. We can hope for deeper communication and understanding as a result. Even though the Internet is a difficult place, I believe it is worth fighting for and can be made better.
Regarding the safety measures he takes with his personal cellphone
To minimize my reliance on them, I usually opt for a custom-modified cellphone on the rare occasions when I need one. Something like to surgery has been done to it by me. I take it apart with specialized tools, heat up the microphone with a soldering iron, and disconnect the camera so the phone can’t spy on me while it’s idle. No microphone can be found inside of it physically. Plus, I use the earphone jack to plug in an external microphone if I have to make a call. And instead of you being a slave to your phone, it will be working for you.
Because most individuals today have a thousand apps on their phones, even if the screen is off and the phone is sitting on a desk or in a hand, it is still connecting hundreds or thousands of times each second. Moreover, this is the crux of the data dilemma that we face now. We are legislating measures to control the dissemination of information. While we are working to ensure the privacy of acquired information, current safeguards all hinge on the assumption that such information already exists. As we drive down the street today, with all of these systems surrounding us, our phones, tablets, and laptops produce records about our life; therefore, we need to be controlling the collecting of data. This is the result of today’s pollution.
Upon returning to the United States for trial
For the rest of my life, getting back to the States has been a priority. And I’ve talked to the government about that before, during the Obama administration, and they said, “You should come and face trial.” I answered, “Sure. Please count me in. For one thing, I need to explain my actions to the court, and then they can judge whether or not they were warranted.” A public interest defense is available for almost any charge. Instances of extreme evil like murder also have defenses. Manslaughter instead of first-degree murder is possible if the defendant can prove that he or she acted in self-defense. Contrarily, the government claims that there is no protection for disclosing illegal government activity to a journalist. There’s no possible explanation for your actions. Did you reveal any confidential information to the press? That’s all the jury can think about. If so, your motivations are irrelevant. You’re going to jail. I’ve said that I’ll be in court the day after you guys announce that a jury will decide whether or not it was ethical for a whistleblower to reveal the government’s illegal behavior.
Credits: Sam Briger and Thea Chaloner produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.
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