Snowden who is he. Edward Snowden. Biography. Edward is dissatisfied with the observance of human rights in Russia

Edward Joseph Snowden(Eng. Edward Joseph Snowden; born June 21, 1983, North Carolina) is an American technical assistant and former employee of the CIA and the US National Security Agency. At the beginning of June 2013 Snowden handed over to The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers classified NSA information regarding the total surveillance of American intelligence services over information communications between citizens of many states around the world, using existing information and communication networks, including information about the PRISM project. For this reason, in the US Edward Snowden accused in absentia of violating the law.

Edward Snowden
Occupation: System administrator
Date of birth: June 1, 1983
Birthplace: Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA
Citizenship: USA

Career and personal life of Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina to Lonnie and Elizabeth Snowden. He spent his childhood in Elizabeth City, lived in Maryland, near the headquarters of the NSA (Fort Meade). He studied computer science at a college in Maryland, but was unable to graduate straight away. Since 2003, he served for some time in the US armed forces, leaving them after breaking both legs during the exercises. He then worked for the NSA, beginning his career guarding a secret facility on the campus of the University of Maryland, presumably CASL. Received a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. After the NSA, he worked in the information security department of the CIA, in particular, from March 2007 to February 2009, he worked under the diplomatic cover of the US Permanent Mission to the UN (Geneva). The work of Edward Snowden related to the security of computer networks.
In 2009, Edward retired and began working for NSA consulting companies, first at Dell, then at military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton (less than 3 months until June 2013).

In the process of working for American intelligence agencies Edward Snowden became more and more disillusioned with their activities. So, according to him, in 2007 he witnessed how the CIA recruited a Swiss bank employee. At first, they deliberately got him drunk and persuaded him to drive and drive home. When he was arrested for drunk driving, CIA agents offered to help him, which allowed him to be recruited to gain access to bank secrets.
“A lot of what I saw in Geneva really took away my illusions about how my government operates and what it brings to the world,” he said later. Edward Snowden. "I realized that I'm part of something that does a lot more harm than good."

According to him, then for the first time he thought about divulging official secrets, but did not do this for two reasons. First, “most CIA secrets are about people, not about machines and systems; and I wouldn't feel comfortable divulging something that might hurt someone."
Original text (English)
Second, he hoped for change after the election of Barack Obama. But he soon became convinced that with the advent of Obama, the situation only worsened.

January 2013 Edward Snowden finally decided to take action. He wrote an email to Laura Poitras, a former American film producer and co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. At the same time, Snowden did not disclose his name, but said that he had important classified information. He soon contacted Glenn Greenwald, a journalist for the English newspaper The Guardian, and Barton Gellman, an op-ed writer for the Washington Post.

Communication took place through encrypted e-mail messages. Snowden wrote that over time his identity would be revealed - by his own will or against it - but until then he asked not to make long quotes from his messages, for fear of being identified through semantic analysis. As he suggested, the intelligence services "will almost certainly kill you if they think you are the key person through which to stop the disclosure of this information."
In the second half of May 2013 Edward Snowden began to pass on key information about the PRISM program to Greenwald and Gellman, but asked not to disclose it immediately.

Changing attitude of Edward Snowden to the service

Snowden disclosed information about the PRISM program, which includes mass surveillance of negotiations between Americans and foreign citizens via telephone and the Internet. PRISM allows the Agency to view e-mail, listen to voice and video chats, view photos, videos, track files sent, and learn other details from social networks. Microsoft (Hotmail), Google (Google Mail), Yahoo!, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, AOL, Apple and Paltalk participate in the PRISM program.
Edward Snowden handed over to journalists a copy of the secret FISC court order dated April 25, 2013. Under this regulation, Verizon, one of the largest US mobile operators, is required to transmit to the NSA "metadata" on a daily basis about all calls made within the United States or between the United States and another country, including the phone numbers of the calling and receiving subscribers, IMEI phones, time and call duration, call location. However, the audio recording of the conversation itself should not be transmitted.

The decree also prohibited all public and private officials involved in the collection of such information from disclosing the very existence of such a decree until 2038. In this regard, journalists subsequently suggested that similar resolutions could be sent to other US cellular operators.
Edward Snowden said that since 2009, US intelligence agencies have illegally penetrated the computer networks of the East Asian fiber-optic network Pacnet, as well as Chinese mobile operators, to gain access to millions of SMS. According to the Hong Kong newspaper Sunday Morning Post (English) Russian, he handed over documents confirming this to the editor.

Edward Snowden leaked information about the existence of the British Tempora tracking program.
On June 17, The Guardian newspaper, citing Snowden's data, reported that British intelligence agencies monitored computers and intercepted phone calls of foreign politicians and officials who participated in the G20 summit in London in 2009. The secret work was carried out by the UK Government Communications Center and the US National Security Agency. In addition, British intelligence services intercepted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's telephone conversations during the summit.

Edward Snowden He emphasized that he did not give all the information known to him:
I have carefully reviewed each document to make sure that its disclosure serves the legitimate interests of the public... There are documents of all types that would have great consequences if they were disclosed, but I do not release them because my goal is openness, not harm to people.

Edward Snowden's motives for disclosing PRISM data

In an accompanying note to the first batch of documents, Snowden wrote: “I understand that I will have to suffer for my actions,” but “I will be satisfied if the secret laws, unequal impunity and irresistible executive power that rules the world that I love are revealed.” even for a moment." “I really want these documents to be in the spotlight, and I hope that this will spark discussion among citizens around the world about what kind of world we want to live in.”
Most recently, Edward was living a fairly comfortable life on a salary of around $200,000 a year, renting a house in Waipahu, Hawaii with his girlfriend, and working in the office of Booz Allen Hamilton.
“I am ready to sacrifice all of this because I cannot in good conscience allow the US government to violate the privacy, freedom of the Internet and the fundamental freedoms of people around the world with this huge surveillance system that they are secretly developing,” he told The Guardian.
“If my motive was money, I could sell these documents to any number of countries and get rich.”

At some point, he came to the conclusion that soon the process of creating an NSA surveillance network would become irreversible. “You can't wait for someone else to take action. I was looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.” “I don’t consider myself a hero because I act in my own interests: I don’t want to live in a world where there is no privacy, and therefore there is no room for intellectual research and creativity.”

Edward Snowden's life after the disclosure

May 20, 2013 Snowden after saying goodbye to his girlfriend for a few weeks and taking a leave of absence from the NSA on the pretext of treating epilepsy, he flies to Hong Kong, where he rented a hotel room and continued email correspondence with journalists.
On June 6, 2013, an alarmed Snowden told Gellman: "The police visited my home in Hawaii this morning." On the same day, with his permission, The Washington Post and The Guardian published exposés of the PRISM program.
On June 9, 2013, Snowden made the decision to reveal his identity. He invited journalists to Hong Kong for interviews, including Greenwald and Poitras. This video interview and his real name were released by The Guardian at his own request. At the same time, he stated: "I have no intention of hiding who I am, because I know that I did nothing wrong."
After revealing his identity, Snowden continued to send classified materials to journalists. Some former NSA and CIA officials have expressed fears that Snowden may provide classified information to China. Snowden dismissed these suggestions, saying that in that case he would have been in the palace in Beijing long ago.
June 10, 2013 around noon Snowden left the hotel "The Mira" in Hong Kong, where he was hiding from the US authorities. He planned to seek political asylum in Iceland, or in another country that supports freedom of speech.

On June 11, 2013, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov announced Russia's readiness to consider the appeal Snowden on granting political asylum, if any. Later, this position of the Russian authorities was confirmed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
On June 21, 2013, on the day of Edward's 30th birthday, he was charged in the United States with embezzlement of state property and disclosure of state secrets.
On June 22, 2013, it became known that the US State Department asked the Hong Kong authorities to detain Snowden and extradite him to the United States. The Hong Kong authorities refused to extradite Snowden, citing incorrect wording in the request.

June 23, 2013, as reported in the media, Snowden accompanied by WikiLeaks representative Sarah Harrison Arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. Since he does not have a Russian visa, he could only be in the transit zone of the airport, as expected, a few hours before the connecting flight. According to Izvestia, Snowden and Harrison didn’t even get to the airport building: after landing, the plane was driven to the far parking lot of the airport, they were taken out of the plane and put into a car with the diplomatic plates of the Venezuelan embassy that drove up close to the gangway, which then disappeared in an unknown direction and none of the journalists saw Snowden until before his July 12 meeting with human rights activists. According to reports received by media correspondents, Snowden did not stay at the Sheremetyevo Hotel, located in the airport's transit area. On the contrary, the Kommersant newspaper claims that from June 23 until the meeting with human rights activists on July 12, Snowden was in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, on the evening of June 23 Snowden asked for asylum in that country. According to press reports, Snowden was going to leave Moscow the next day for Venezuela via Havana, but his seat on the plane was empty. According to the US State Department, the ID Snowden was officially annulled by the US authorities, but this, according to the press service of the US State Department, did not deprive him of his citizenship. According to Julian Assange, Ecuador provided Snowden with a refugee passport in return. The authorities of Ecuador explained that the issuance of transit documents by the consul was not authorized by the country's Foreign Ministry, therefore the documents are invalid.

On June 25, 2013, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced at a press conference in Moscow that Russia had nothing to do with the movements Snowden around the world, and the Russian authorities learned about Snowden's plans go to South America from the information in the press. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Snowden is in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport, where a Russian visa is not required, he did not cross the Russian border and did not commit any crimes on the territory of the country, and therefore there are no grounds for his detention and extradition to the United States. Putin also said: “Our special services are never with Mr. Snowden did not work and do not work today. On June 30, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov clarified that Putin, on the contrary, prefers Snowden handled by special services.

Observers note that staying in the territory of the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport without a Russian visa (regular or transit) is allowed for a period of no more than 24 hours. For five days after his arrival, none of the journalists saw Snowden in Moscow.
On June 28, 2013, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that he was ready to grant political asylum to Snowden. During a press conference, Maduro recalled that the United States granted asylum to Luis Posada, who was sentenced to prison in Venezuela. The father of the ex-CIA officer on the same day said that his son could return to the United States under certain conditions; at the same time, he emphasized that he only expresses his personal opinion, he has not communicated with Edward himself since April.
On June 30, 2013, Snowden asked for political asylum in Russia. At 10:30 pm, British citizen Sarah Harrison, accompanying him, submitted the relevant documents to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On July 1, 2013, at a press conference in Moscow, Vladimir Putin announced that Snowden will be able to stay in Russia, but “there is one condition: he must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners, no matter how strange it sounds from my lips.” The next morning, Dmitry Peskov said that the conditions put forward by Putin did not suit Snowden.
On July 2, 2013, the governments of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, as well as a number of other European states, banned the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales from entering the airspace of their countries after taking off from Moscow, in connection with which the plane was forced to land in Vienna. The ban was due to fears that Snowden was on board the liner. During the inspection of the plane in Vienna by the Austrian security service, it turned out that Snowden was not there.
On July 7, 2013, it became known that having sent out applications for political asylum to more than 20 states, Snowden received three positive responses - from Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

July 12, 2013 Edward Snowden held a meeting at Sheremetyevo, where representatives of the international human rights organizations Amnesty International, Transparency International, Human Rights Watch, the Polish human rights organization Krido Legal, and the UN representative in Russia were invited. In addition, State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Nikonov, member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Olga Kostina, Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, as well as lawyers Anatoly Kucherena, Genrikh Padva and Henry Reznik received invitations. At the meeting, Snowden announced his intention to seek temporary asylum in Russia, as his security can now only be ensured if he temporarily stays in Russia, although he plans to settle in Latin America in the future. Human Rights Watch spokeswoman Tatyana Lokshina said at the meeting that on the way to the airport she received a call from the US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, who asked her to convey that the United States considers Snowden not a whistleblower, but someone who has broken the law. In the evening the situation around Snowden discussed by phone the presidents of Russia and the United States Putin and Obama.

Reaction to Edward Snowden

Criminal charges against Edward Snowden
The United States charged Snowden in absentia with embezzlement of government property, disclosure of national defense data, and willful transfer of classified information to unauthorized persons. Together, these charges face up to 30 years in prison and possibly the death penalty.

Petitions for Snowden
At least two petitions have appeared on the Internet in defense of Snowden. One of them was created on June 9 on the website of the White House, and was repeatedly discussed in the press. The petition proclaims Snowden a "national hero" and demands a full amnesty for him. On June 27, she collected over 120 thousand votes, that is, she crossed the threshold (100 thousand by July 9), after which the White House will be required to give an official response.
Another petition was created on June 12 on the Avaaz website and calls for "considering Snowden

Edward Snowden is an American technical assistant, known throughout the world for the publication of a number of sensational revelations by the US intelligence agencies regarding mass surveillance of citizens. Since 2013, his name has appeared on the front pages of the media, as information about violations by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the rights and freedoms of millions of Americans and Europeans struck the world community.

Recently, Snowden has been living in Russia, where he was granted political asylum, as the United States put him on the international wanted list, charging him in absentia with embezzlement and disclosure of state secrets, which is regarded as a threat to the country's security.

Childhood and youth

Edward Snowden was born on June 21, 1983 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His parents, Coast Guard Lonnie and lawyer Elizabeth Snowden, are divorced. In the family, Edward is the youngest child, he has an older sister, Jessica, who works as a lawyer at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington.

Snowden's childhood and youth were spent in his hometown, where the future employee of the CIA and the US NSA received his secondary education. In 1999, the Snowden family moved to Maryland. There, Edward entered Ann Arundel College, where he took preparatory courses for university entrance.

However, due to health reasons, he never completed the course of study - he had to continue his studies remotely, which did not prevent Snowden from receiving a master's degree from the University of Liverpool in 2011.

In 2004, Edward Snowden went to serve in the US Armed Forces as a reservist, from where he was commissioned a few months after receiving a serious injury to both legs. From that moment on, Snowden's biography was directly related to computer science, programming and IT technologies, in which the guy showed professionalism and special talent, despite the lack of formal confirmation of the specialist's qualifications.

Service in the CIA

Edward Snowden's career climb was confident and swift. The specialist received his first professional skills at the NSA, working in the security structure of a secret facility at the University of Maryland. A few years later, Snowden was hired by the CIA and sent to Geneva under diplomatic cover as the US permanent representative to the UN. There, his responsibilities included the implementation of the security of computer networks. According to Edward, his work in Switzerland opened his eyes to the fact that he is a special link in the US intelligence services, bringing people more harm than good.

In 2009, the programmer quit the CIA and began working for NSA-affiliated consulting firms Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton as an outside contractor.

Snowden did not approve of the activities of the US National Security Agency, in the future, freeing the American public from illusions about the lawful actions of the government in relation to the whole world. In this regard, in 2013, the NSA special agent decided to act according to the dictates of his heart and reveal to people secret information that exposes American intelligence services in mass surveillance of people.

Snowden has repeatedly noted that he wanted to declassify the illegal actions of the NSA and the CIA back in 2008, but he hoped that with the coming to power, the situation in the US secret services would change. It soon became obvious to the programmer that the new US president continued the policy of his predecessors and did not intend to interfere with the activities of "spies".

Revelations and prosecutions

Snowden's work to declassify the crimes of American intelligence agencies started in 2013. Then the former CIA and NSA agent contacted film producer Laura Poitras, American journalist Glenn Greenwald and publicist Barton Gellman, whom he said that he was ready to provide classified information.

Snowden's communication took place through encrypted e-mail messages, through which the IT specialist leaked 200,000 secret documents to journalists. Their status of secrecy exceeded previously published materials on WikiLeaks regarding the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. After that, a scandal erupted, and the announced compromising material received the effect of a thermonuclear bomb in the press. In the future, the founder of WikiLeaks, will declare that thanks to the international non-profit organization, Snowden remains at large.

Edward Snowden's revelations contained facts about US surveillance of the population in 60 countries of the world and 35 government departments throughout Europe. The programmer declassified information about the PRISM program, with the help of which special agents conducted mass surveillance of the negotiations between Americans and foreign citizens via the Internet and mobile communications.

According to Edward, the PRISM program allowed the NSA to eavesdrop on voice and video chats, view email and photos, monitor file transfers, and own all the information of social network users. A large number of popular services participated in this program: Microsoft (Hotmail), Facebook, Google (Gmail), Skype, Yahoo!, AOL, YouTube, Apple and Paltalk.

Also sensational in Snowden's exposure was a secret ruling by the FISC court, according to which the largest mobile operator Verizon is required to transmit metadata to the NSA on a daily basis of all calls made within the United States. Against the background of this decision, journalists suggested that other American cellular operators could also be involved in such obligations.

In addition, thanks to Snowden, it became known about the existence of the Tempora tracking program, which intercepts Internet traffic and telephone conversations, and about the integrated iPhone software that allows you to monitor user actions.

One of the most resonant revelations of Snowden was the disclosure of the fact that US intelligence agents intercepted telephone conversations of foreign politicians and officials who participated in the G20 summit, held in 2009 in London. The number of victims of misconduct by the US NSA included many well-known politicians from around the world.

According to the Pentagon, Snowden is in possession of 1.7 million classified documents, most of which concern vital information about the operations of the US Army and Navy, Marines and Air Force. This information, according to journalists, will be gradually disclosed in order to damage the national interests of the United States and the NSA.

After deciding to reveal his identity, Edward Snowden, realizing that he would have to pay dearly for this act, went on the run.

At first, the programmer was hiding in Hong Kong, where he planned to obtain political asylum. After the official accusation by the American authorities of embezzlement and disclosure of secret state secrets, which happened on the day of Edward's 30th birthday, the spy appeared in Moscow at the Sheremetyevo airport for unknown reasons, but, without a Russian visa, was forced to stay in the airport's transit zone .

According to media reports, in Russia, the programmer was met by a car with diplomatic plates of Venezuela, which took Snowden away in an unknown direction. Presumably, through Moscow, Edward intended to go to South America.

On June 30, 2013, he asked for political asylum in Russia, and the very next day the President of the Russian Federation allowed the programmer to stay in the country on the condition that he stop the subversive work of the American intelligence services.

At the same time, Edward Snowden filed a petition for pardon with the American authorities, citing the fact that he does not observe anything bad and illegal in his actions. The American authorities have a controversial attitude towards Snowden's revelations, believing that the programmer is obliged to stand trial because he gave out US state secrets. American intelligence officials consider the act of the former CIA and NSA officer tough and illegal, causing irreparable damage to the US intelligence service.

In turn, the European Union has a categorical attitude towards the issue of the prosecution of Snowden. The European Parliament has repeatedly called on the EU to refuse to impose a sentence on the American, to provide him with protection, which will make it impossible for him to be extradited to the United States or returned by a third party.

In July 2016, US CIA Director John Brennan said that Snowden should return to the US and stand trial. Then the head of the American foreign intelligence did not support the position of the former US Attorney General Eric Holder, who called Snowden's activities "a service to society." The head of the CIA does not believe that thanks to Edward, a discussion of socially significant issues began in the country.

In 2016, an ex-employee of the National Security Agency spoke in an interview with the Financial Times about his life in the Russian capital. Snowden admitted that his knowledge of the Russian language is only enough to make an order in a restaurant. Snowden added that he lives in Eastern North American Time and spends most of his time on the Internet, but "it was always like that in his life."

Snowden has repeatedly expressed his opinion on Russian anti-terrorism laws. A former employee of the American intelligence services criticized in his microblog on the social network "Twitter" a package of laws (“package”) that introduce life imprisonment for international terrorism and oblige telecom operators, instant messengers and social networks to store information about the facts of conversations and correspondence of users and their content.

“Mass surveillance does not work. This law robs every Russian of money and freedom without improving security. You should not sign it, ”Snowden notes.

In 2017, as before, the authorities of many countries of the world invite a former employee of the American intelligence services to speak on a number of issues, as well as to give lectures.

Movies

"The most wanted man in the world" Edward Snowden, after the publication and disclosure of classified information from the American intelligence services, became one of the main persons for writers and filmmakers who thought about making him part of their creations. He was the protagonist of the documentary Citizenfour, filmed by Laura Poitras based on an interview with an ex-CIA and NSA officer.

The film about Edward Snowden won the prestigious Oscar as the best documentary film with a bold plot, which from the first to the last seconds carries sensational revealing information.

In 2016, the world saw a new project by the famous director called Snowden, dedicated to the story of a former US IT specialist hiding from the evil American government. The main roles in the film were played by actors, and.

Personal life

The personal life of Edward Snowden after his high-profile revelations in view of the precautions taken has become a secret to society. He mentioned family life once in passing - in 2013 he said that he had a wife and children. It is known that since 2009 his girlfriend was dancer Lindsey Mills, with whom he lived in a civil marriage on the Hawaiian island of Waipahu.

There were rumors that in 2013 the couple broke up. But director Oliver Stone, the author of the film about Snowden, denied this information. The American spy still lives with his chosen one in Russia. This fact is also evidenced by their joint photos that appear on Lindsay's personal Instagram account.

In 2013, a former employee of the Russian special services proposed to Edward Snowden to marry her. She wrote about this on Twitter, but users called such a step on her part PR.

According to journalists who interviewed Edward in Hong Kong, Snowden remains a good-natured and intelligent person, in whose character notes of romance and idealism can be traced. The programmer leads a quiet and healthy lifestyle, practices Buddhism, spends a lot of time at the computer and enjoys reading books on the history of Russia. At the same time, the "whistleblower" of the NSA and the CIA adheres to a vegetarian diet, does not drink coffee and does not drink alcohol.

Edward Snowden now

Repeatedly, the programmer stated that he was ready to move to the United States, subject to an open trial with the presence of a jury. But no head of state has so far given Snowden such guarantees. In 2017, journalists suggested that Moscow would no longer hide Edward in Russia, but would extradite him to the new US president, but the programmer again managed to renew his residence permit.

In 2018, the American stopped public relations for a period of six months. In autumn, he participated in a videoconference with the University of Management in the Austrian city of Innsbruck. Edward said that he now manages the American Foundation for the Defense of the Freedom of Journalists.

As part of his activities, Snowden is developing a program that ensures the protection of information sources from external threats. According to the former CIA officer, he is primarily concerned about the problems of American society, with which he continues to struggle. At the same time, Edward does not stop criticizing the Russian government and reforms.

In November, Snowden lectured senior Mossad personnel, providing them via videoconference with evidence of NSA intrusion into Israeli intelligence operations. Snowden does not yet provide information about new speeches in 2019, but it is assumed that the programmer will continue to expose the American intelligence services.

Quotes

Snowden himself says this about his revelations:

“I carefully reviewed each document to make sure that its disclosure would serve the legitimate interests of the public. There are documents of all types that would have great consequences if they were released, but I do not release them because my goal is openness, not harm to people.”

The future special agent was born in 1983 in Elizabeth City. The head of the family served in the North Carolina Coast Guard, the mother devoted herself to jurisprudence. Soon the couple divorced, Edward and sister Jessica stayed with their mother. The boy spent his childhood in his homeland, where he graduated from high school.

In 1999, the family moved to Maryland. The young man became a college student, studied computer science, and was preparing to enter the university in preparatory courses. But poor health prevented him from completing his education in a timely manner, the young man was absent from classes for several months. Education continued remotely via the Internet until 2011, after which Edward received a master's degree from the University of Liverpool.

In 2004, Snowden served in the US military. He dreamed of going to Iraq and "helping people free themselves from oppression." During the exercises, the recruit broke both legs and was demobilized.

Work in the special services

A new stage in Snowden's biography was work in the national security agencies of the state. The young man's career began with the protection of an object at the University of Maryland. He received the highest degree of clearance not only to secret, but also to intelligence information. Then he was transferred to the NSA base in Hawaii as a system administrator.

Edward's further job was the CIA, where he dealt with information security issues. For two years in Geneva, under diplomatic cover, he provided computer security. During this period, Snowden experienced great disappointment in the activities of domestic intelligence agencies, he was especially struck by the ways in which employees recruited and received the necessary information. Since 2009, Snowden began working with consulting companies that worked in conjunction with the NSA, including military contractors.

Information Disclosure

What he saw in Switzerland freed Snowden from illusions and made him think about the benefits of such government actions. The subsequent activity only confirmed his determination and the need to move to action. He hoped that the arrival of President Barack Obama to the White House would improve the situation, but it only got worse.

Snowden began to act decisively in 2013, when he sent an anonymous e-mail to director and film producer Laura Poitras. The letter contained information that the author had important information. The next decisive step was encrypted communication with the Englishman Glenn Greenwald from the Guardian publishing house and the author of articles for the Washington Post Barton Gellman. According to available information, Snowden gave them almost two hundred thousand classified files. From the end of spring, these two publicists began to receive materials from Edward on the PRISM program created by American intelligence. The essence of the state program was the secret collection of information about citizens around the world. Every year, the system intercepted one and a half billion telephone conversations and electronic messages, and also recorded the movements of billions of people who own mobile phones. According to the head of information intelligence, the system worked on completely legal grounds, which allowed monitoring the network traffic of users of some Internet resources. Potentially, any US citizen could be “under the hood”, foreigners were of particular interest. The system made it possible to view mail, photos, listen to video chats and voice messages, as well as draw details of personal life from social networks.

exposure

The National Security Service launched an investigation into the fact that information about the operation of the PRISM system was leaked to the press. After the publication, many companies, in particular Googl, began checking information encryption systems in order to prevent further leakage of information about their users. Previously, this Internet company, like many others, encrypted data only during transmission, and on the servers they were stored unprotected. The American Human Rights Organization has filed several lawsuits in the judiciary to declare such data collection illegal. Soon followed by the reaction of the European Union, that there are also planned measures to protect information.

Technician gave out information about the surveillance of a billion people in dozens of countries. His list included large Internet and cellular communication companies that collaborated with intelligence agencies on a daily basis. Edward justified his actions by the fact that he advocated openness and respect for the legitimate interests of society.

The director of the NSA accused Snowden of having acquired information not only concerning the intelligence of the United States, but also of Great Britain. And the Pentagon has said it has knowledge of many covert military operations. There was a version that Snowden technically could not carry out such an operation alone, there were words about the likely support from Russian intelligence. However, there was no evidence of this, and Edward denied assistance from other states. The accused himself was well aware that he would have to "suffer for his actions." He sacrificed a quiet life in Hawaii in order to oppose the violation of people's freedoms through total surveillance. He did not consider the act heroic and did not put money at the head of everything: "I do not want to live in a world where there is no secret of private life."

Escape abroad

Almost immediately, Snowden left the country and flew to Hong Kong, where he continued to communicate with reporters. Two weeks later, the police showed up at his home in Hawaii. The Washington Post and The Guardian immediately published the resulting material exposing the PRISM system. In Hong Kong, together with reporters, he recorded a video interview, and openly declared himself. Further, Edward planned to leave for Iceland, believing that the country best supports freedom of speech, staying in Hong Kong remained dangerous. Russian diplomats offered him to move to Russia. The country's leadership agreed to grant a three-year residence permit on the condition that he stop his subversive work.

Personal life

In view of the security measures taken, the personal life of the whistleblower remains a secret for a wide range. Before his name became known to the whole world, Edward lived on one of the Hawaiian islands with Lindsey Mills. There is a version that the couple's civil marriage continues and they live together in a rented apartment in Moscow.

Snowden is fond of Asian culture, in particular Japanese. He became interested in anime and martial arts while working at one of the US military bases in Japan. Then the computer specialist began to study the language of the Land of the Rising Sun.

How is life today

At home, Snowden was put on the international wanted list and accused in absentia of espionage and theft of state property. Today, his exact whereabouts are unknown. Russia extended the disgraced agent the right to stay on its territory until 2020. The CIA director is sure that Snowden is obliged to bear an answer before the American court, but he does not make contact with American diplomacy. The security specialist is ready to return to America if he was sure that the proceedings would be open to the general public.

The famous whistleblower does not lead a closed life. His face can often be seen at various conferences on human rights and computer technology. Many countries invite him to give lectures or visit festivals of music and culture. For such video communication, Snowden receives good fees, today their size is close to his earnings in America. But Edward himself does not get tired of repeating that life in Russia is expensive, and since he did not take anything with him when he left his homeland, he has to earn money himself. Even without knowing the language, Snowden has traveled to many parts of Russia over the years, but he still spends most of his time on the global web.

The controversial figure of a technical specialist aroused the interest of game developers, of which he became the hero. The British journalist Greenwald dedicated the book Nowhere to Hide to him, and in 2016 the American director Oliver Stone presented a film about the life of an agent.

Who Is Edward Snowden?

Edward Snowden is a 31 year old US citizen, former Intelligence Community officer and whistleblower. The documents he revealed provided a vital public window into the NSA and its international intelligence partners’ secret mass surveillance programs and capabilities. These revelations generated unprecedented attention around the world on privacy intrusions and digital security, leading to a global debate on the issue.

Snowden worked in various roles within the US Intelligence Community, including serving undercover for the CIA overseas. He most recently worked as an infrastructure analyst at the NSA, through a Booz Allen Hamilton contract, when he left his home and family in Hawaii to blow the whistle in May 2013. After traveling to Hong Kong, Snowden revealed documents to the American public on the NSA's mass surveillance programs, which were shown to be operating without any public oversight and outside the limits of the US Constitution. The US government has charged Snowden with theft of government property, and two further charges under the 1917 Espionage Act. Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

With the US pursuing his extradition, Snowden is now in Russia, where he was formally granted three years' residency from 1 August 2014, after a year of temporary asylum in Russia ended on 31st July 2014. Journalists continue to publish documents from Snowden that reveal the secret and unaccountable systems of modern global surveillance.

Quick facts

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Edward Snowden: Sam Adams Award

Snowden talks at the Sam Adams Award award ceremony in October 2013 about the secret surveillance he revealed and its dangers to democracy.

According to a source close to Snowden and who is aware of his affairs, he earned more than $ 200,000 from fees for speeches organized by one of America's most prestigious lecture halls. At least three such speeches took place at American public universities, and documents obtained by Yahoo News mentioned the problems experienced by the authorities of these universities regarding the payment of Snowden's services.

Edward Snowden at the Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark on June 28. Photo: Scanpix Denmark/ Matthias Løvgrin Boyesen

The former intelligence officer is using video chat technology to participate in events around the world: over the past five months, Snowden has appeared on a giant screen in front of packed houses at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Northern Europe's largest music festival, the Tokyo Civil Rights Symposium, and the Comic- Con in San Diego. On all these occasions, and every time Snowden appeared in public, crowds of sympathizers supported him with thunderous applause for his decision to release secret documents about the US intelligence agencies' surveillance programs.

“Saying that privacy is not important to you because you have nothing to hide is the same as saying that freedom of speech is not important to you because you have nothing to say,”- Snowden said at the Danish festival Roskilde Festival in June, using one of his classic story lines.

Event organizers tout Snowden as the man whose actions led to significant changes in US surveillance laws. And this happens at a very important moment in his life. Snowden's supporters stepped up their efforts at the same time as the release of Oliver Stone's film about his life and plan to launch a large-scale campaign in the fall to convince Barack Obama to grant Snowden a full pardon before the end of the presidential term.

Edward Snowden at the TED conference in Vancouver, 2014. Photo: Bret Hartman/TED

However, the fact that Snowden, who stole hundreds of thousands of classified government documents, is now cashing in on his notoriety infuriates some US intelligence officials. This could shatter all hopes of Snowden supporters to strike a deal with the Obama administration and return the exile to his homeland without trial and the risk of a long prison term. Although these hopes are unlikely to come true anyway.

"In my opinion, he broke the oath he made to our government on our Constitution," CIA director John Brennan said in a recent interview with Yahoo News. “The fact that he receives a reward for this is sad and wrong.”

Ben Wisner of the American Civil Liberties Union, who is Snowden's US attorney, defended his client's burgeoning public speaking career.

"There's nothing wrong with Edward Snowden making a living talking about surveillance and democracy," Wisner said, noting that some U.S. intelligence officials have published books and gone on to successful consulting careers despite supporting the use of torture and other prohibited practices. . Snowden doesn't make a huge fortune from public speaking, Wisner says - he leads a moderate and modest life."

One of the few photos of Snowden in Moscow, taken in the fall of 2013 during a boat trip past the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Photo: LifeNews/Russia 24

What does Edward Snowden live on?

How Snowden makes money in exile has been an open question from the start. He stated that before fleeing the United States with secret documents, he had "sufficient financial resources to support himself for years without anyone's help." However, in his hideout, the former system administrator accepted a job offer at a well-known Russian website, according to his local lawyer Anatoly Kucherena (the name of the site was not disclosed). And by November 2013, the American, according to some sources, had spent almost all of his money.

“The savings that he had were almost completely spent on food, housing, security and other needs,” Kucherena told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.