Whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked the documents about US mass surveillance. He spoke about his disclosures and his life to NDR journalist Seipel in Moscow. (Germany only) 7 pages of transcript giving insightful & thoughtful interview ...here http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden277_page-1.html
Interesting stuff. I personally think the guy was brave to do what he did but think he should have been more selective in the info he released. The mass surveillance of everyone wasn't particularly surprising but it goes to show the lengths our governments will go to to control sorry protect ;-) it's population.
Was it just me or did this thread disappear earlier? Anyway, fascinating stuff... increasing technology comes at a price
The 34 minute interview is a worthwhile watch for anyone who's concerned about the power and extent of the American security apparatus. It's much bigger and more sophisticated than any other internal secret policing apparatus, such as Stasi, the Gestapo or KGB. btw Snowden is among 50 or so nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.
May I play devil's advocate......... It could be argued that Snowden & Assange are vain egotists more interested in notoriety and their own self worth than any sense for the truth. Even if we are being monitored if you are doing nothing wrong what do you have to fear? How many people do you know who have "dissapeared" or been chased by the "one armed man", are we blurring the lines between reality & fiction? Could I query if anything will really change for the better, to make the world a safer place.......it could be argued the suspicions he has caused between governments will make it less safe as less information will be shared facilitating a utopia for terrorist attacks. The next big atrocity will be laid at the door of Snowden with the security services saying their lines of communication have been compromised and negated by him.. And how will we know they are not being truthful?
They're not using it in that way though Hacking into the phone of the German MP (probably done it to other leaders as well tbh) and illegally getting information on companies then feeding it to US companies. Fact is they're using it for personal gain (maybe partly for security, but they're using it unethically as well) And for the average Joe being tracked: I have nothing to hide, but I'm uneasy with the idea of somebody reading my text messages, listening on my calls, reading emails etc. it's an invasion of privacy. And if they're is nothing wrong with what they're doing, then why are they so keen to bring Snowden back to the US? They themselves know what they're doing is unethical. They should only be given the right to track a person once they're a confirmed suspect
The only way that America can track international terrorists is covert vigilance of terrorists communications; what seems to have been forgotten is the amount of killing of Americans that took place for years leading op to 9/11. They have had nothing but double dealing by Pakistan and Afghanistan and who knows how many possible international terrorist information has been passed to other threatened countries. Snowden has put the normal world in possible danger now that the terrorists can change their comms traffic.
