Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor - Essay Example

Name Course Instructor Date Edward Snowden: hero or traitor Edward Snowden, the former NSA, CIA and Dell employee is perhaps one of the most popular modern whistleblowers (Andrews, Burrough and Ellison). One might trace his story and rise to fame back to when he anonymously contacted the famous journalist and film maker Laura Poitras at the beginning of 2013. It seemed a relatively harmless thing when she received an anonymous email asking for her encryption key. An encryption key would allow the other party to communicate with her securely. In her line of work, she did not find this particularly strange. She was a filmmaker who had covered the subjects of Guantanamo bay and the Iraq occupation to international acclaim, earning numerous awards in the process. Her actions had also placed her on a US watch list, a fact which had seen her detained a lot over the previous six years (Brown). In the next few weeks, her anonymous correspondent, adopting the name Citizenfour, continued exchanging emails with her, setting up security protocols and secure ways to communicate. He claimed to be a member of the intelligence community, and promised Laura Poitras that she would not be dissapointed. Then came the email that dropped a bombshell on her. It did not dissapoint her, instead startling her, especially considering the information Citizenfour claimed to be able to prove. All this culminated into Laura Poitras, acompanied by two journalists from the Guardian boarding a plane to Hong King in June, where a short film introduced Edward Snowden and his secrets to the world. The leaks by Edward Snowden were an=mong the biggest in the history of the United States. The highlights of the leaks were the fact that the NSA had conducted mass surveillance over American citizens, gatherunbg and keeping information about them even when they wee not necessarily persons of interest in any cases. Edward Snowden refused to hide his face from the beginning, claiming he had done nothing wrong, but do his actions make him hero or villain? Hero or villain? Considering the efecst of his revelations, it is not difficult to understand why many people consider him a hero in the eyes of the public at least. The most controversial revelation from the Edward Snowden data, the NSA collection, came from the surveillance of metadata from millions of phone calls made by Americans. Metadata refers to information regardng the time and participants in phone calls. The information did not include recordings or any transcripts of the actual conversations (Smith). He also revealed evidence of the gathering of information on communication between major world leaders, including the likes of Angela Merkel of Germany and Dilma Rouseff of Brazil, both considered allies by the US. His actions have triggered a shift in thinking about issues of accountability of security agencies across the world. The world realised that not much is public about how security services, especially those that have international jurisdiction or operations like the NSA and interpol, handle their operational relationships, especially when it comes to data policy. Not many understand how they collect and pass information across their data communities, and whether or not this information reaches local law enforcement. Across the world, there has been greater interest, especially within the civil society, on the fight for privacy, transparency and accountability of security agencies, and the rule of law. This shift in thinking has brought the attention of both the media and civil society to issues that had escaped attention and scrutiny in the past (Davies). However, there has not been as big an effect as had intitially been anticipated, or as one would expect. The countries mos adversely mentioned in the report, like the UK, greeted the revelations with an air of denial, ignoring completelyany of the issues raised by the revelations (Davies). Across the world, interest in the stories have dwindled and reached a plateau. The global interset in the Snowden stories reduced significantly in the past year, with reports in non-US countries becomng minimal or no-existent. Many felt that the story was of no direct significance to them, only carrying the media reports when there was direct mention of their countries, for instance in case like Mexico and Pakistan. Predominant US focus means that focus from the media in other countries has reduced to close to two per cent of the initial coverage (Davies). There is a genaral feeling that the imapct of the Snowden revelations has not been big enough. For instance, many technological and IT companies, largely the subjects of the collection of metadata on US citizens, have introduced various measures to ensure accountability and security. However, surveys done on legal and IT experts reveal that these measures were not nearly strong enouh. Many felt they were just window dressing measures, with little or no significant impact outside the US (Davies). The discourse between the civil sociaty, technical privacy solutions experts and policy makers even in the US is worryingly sketchy. There have not been nearly enough efforts at the information exchange between these parties required to trigger widespread and effective chnages. Many of those supporting the nobility of Edward Snowden do that citing the impact his revelations have had on the law in the US. In january 2014, president Obama announced a major change in telephone data collection techniques in the US (Smith). He basically allowed intelligence communities to tap into data investigating terrorist threats, but ony afetr getting permission from a secret court. His sentiments showed that technological improvements placed new ethical constraints on the government, considering the capabilities they provided. He insinuated the fact that the government was moving towards completely putting phone data in the hands of private companies (Smith). That raises the issue of whether or not Americans will feel comfortable in the hands of private companies, many of which controversially already collect too much information about the public. Online privacy watch groups are already warning about companies like facebook spying (Gibbs). Even though there have been reforms, particularly in the US, these do not seem to have any meaningful impact on the protection of personal data, especially putside the US on a global scale. The US president created seemingly meaningful protections for non-US citizens, but they have so far failed to materialize. In fact, evidence exists that the US government has been on a global campaign to block possible reform of internationa security relationships (Davies). This is not the first time there have been spies releasing supposedly classified information. In 1971, a former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg released secret information containing details of a pentagon study of vietnam. The information released showed that the white house had lied to the public about the war. The Pentagon Papers, as they later came to be known, were given to close to 20 newspapers, among them The New York Times and The Washigton Post. Around about the same time, deep throat, an anonymous source, reveled secrets about the watergate scandal to two washington post reporters. This information ultimately led to the resignation of the president. The FBI agent source involved later revealed himself in 2005. A more recent case in 2010 involved Bradley Manning, a 22 year old army private, who downloaded reports and videos, passing them on to wikileaks. He was found guilty of espionage, getting a 35 year jail term. The Espionage act The imprisonment of Manning brings into question the espionage act. Those who consider him villain are not at all enraged that he released information. It is that he revealed the methods with which the US government authorities and the military collected information. He also revealed how the US secured its networks in ways that were found to have an impact on the security and safety of troops overseas. This alone is enouigh to have his actions classified as treason. The courts, on the other hand, have been divided over the matter. A Week after one federal judge ruled the NSA spying as possible illegal in december 2013, another ruled the actions of the NSA as legal, settng up the possibility of the supreme court having to decide (Smith). Many are calling for his return, saying he should turn himself in and mount a strong defence, citing the fact that the US has a rich history of justice for those who reveal wrongdoings. Expert advice, however, seems to suggest this is not the best course of action. The espionage act was created in 1917, and many of its intricate details put the government at a huge advantage. It was a law meant for spies, meaning there is no possibility of fair protection of non-spies, whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, through it (Radack). It is easy for the espionage act to hinder someone from having to defend themselves in a court of law. Past examples show that the accused had charges involving the classified information dropped, and they pleaded guilty to minor charges. One of the main reasons for this is the calssification system of information. The espionage act came into play during a time even before the active use of classification by givernment. Regardless of the charges, the defendant must be ready to pay up. Any lela defense of this nature will potetially cost between 1 to 3 million. A past defendant spent more a hundred thousand dollars in his defense ven before the beginning of the pre-trial. The privacy rules are airtight and often put the government at a huge advantage. Lawyers can only discuss the details in a top secet location, where theycannot take notes or record anything. The law also allows the government to create substitutions for the classified information in court. Conclusion While he set in motion important steps, they do not seem to have enough of an impact. Conversations about gathering sensitive information should be made public, and not had before any secret courts. The nature of the espionage act makes any possible defence moot. It was meanst for such spies as Aldrich Ames, who sold information to the enemy for profits, and not whistleblowers like Snowden and Manning. Edward Snowden, in particular, is a hero and made important contributions to the triggering of the debate on information security. However, the direction the debate is taking, what with dwindling publc interest, a disconnect between lobby groups and policy makers, and a government unmotivated to enact changes, it is a real possibility that his efforts will all be in vain. After sitting in the transit lounge for 39 days, Russia finally allwed him assylum into their country when nobody would take him. Reports suggest he might be seeking refuge in the EU (Peralta). He can only watch from the sidelines, content in the accomplishment of his personal mission (Smith). Works cited Andrews, Suzanna, Bryan Burrough and Sarah Ellison. The Snowden Saga: A Shadowland of Secrets and Light. May 2014. Web. 17 June 2015. Brown , Mick. The Telegraph. 24 October 2014. Web. 17 June 2015. Davies, Simon. "A Crisis of Accountability: A global analysis of the impact of the Snowden revelations." 2014. Gibbs, Samuel. Leave Facebook if you don't want to be spied on, warns EU. 26 March 2015. Web. June 17 2015. Peralta, Eyder. Edward Snowden Tells EU Parliament He Wants Asylum In Europe. 7 March 2014. Web. 17 June 2015. Radack, Jesselyn. Jesselyn Radack: Why Edward Snowden Wouldn't Get a Fair Trial. 21 January 2014. Web. 17 June 2015. Smith , Patricia. "EDWARD SNOWDEN: Traitor or Hero?" New York Times Upfront 24 February 2014: 8. web. Read More