Edward Snowden Case

The basic facts are that Snowden was a high level computer programmer who worked for Dell Corporation and was contracted by the National Security Agency (NSA) for work in their intelligence sector. He later performed work for the Booz Allen Hamilton company where he collected and subsequently leaked classified government documents that showed the the NSA was spying on United States citizens (Landau, page 66). We also learned through Snowden's leaked information through The Guardian that the NSA was spying on Chinese computers and that the NSA's British equivalent used internet cafes to spy on political leaders who attended the G20 summit. It was also revealed that the NSA was collecting this information using a "top secret" interpretation of the fourth amendment that very few Americans would understand if it was explained even in layman's terms. All of this information was provided by Snowden through acquired data that he got through downloading gigabytes of information from computers while he was working. He stated that he saw activity that seemed suspect and thought that the American public deserved to know that they were being spied on.

The public response to this leak of information was that the NSA initially lied, but as more and more information came to light, it was eventually proven to be true. The government was relatively lackadaisical in their response about the content of the leaked information, although they used their resources to go after Snowden with their full might, accusing him of treason and charging him with treason and releasing classified national security documents, and the media declaring him "the most wanted man in the world". According to Barbara Fister, "we learned in 2005 that the National Security Agency was engaging in large-scale domestic warrantless wiretapping, and we were troubled, but the Bush administration adamantly defended its legality and Congress shrugged" (Fister, page 2).

What Snowden did brings up a discussion of morality and right versus wrong. Should Snowden have leaked that information that he did for the sake of the freedom of information? If a computer technician knows the type of activity that the government is doing, does he have the right to release that information to the public. If he does release information that the government is illegally spying on its citizens and members of other countries, should he be declared a treasonist? According to Steve Vladeck, there is no doubt that Snowden broke the law and he states, "If the question is whether Snowden is a criminal, the answer is 'yes.' If the question is whether he is a traitor - which is also a legal question - the answer appears quite clearly to be 'no.' So, at least according to Vladeck, when is comes to Snowden's actions, he seems to tow a VERY grey line. In the government and Vladeck's eyes, he is without a doubt a criminal, but in Vladeck's and the public's eyes he is also a "patriot" and a "hero."

Another issue that comes up with this topic is "us versus them." Snowden represented the average citizen he and was "fighting" the governmental agency of the NSA. To the public, he was releasing information about us that should have been public knowledge and that was also being illegally collected by the NSA. The NSA's stance was that they were providing the much needed national security that we have lacked since September 11, 2001. The bottom line is that the NSA was collecting their information illegally and that they shouldn't have been doing this in the first place. According to the article Making Sense from Snowden" when interviewed by Senator Ron Wyden, James Claptor, director

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