Edward Snowden: Ex-CIA Agent Turned Privacy Advocate
Edward Snowden, in 2013, disclosed over 1.5 million classified documents, uncovering surveillance in more than 60 countries, which quickly sparked a global stir.
With government-employed parents — his mother as a secretary in the U.S. District Court and his father as a Coast Guard officer — it’s no surprise that Snowden joined the CIA at just 23 years old.
In the tenth grade, Edward fell ill with mononucleosis (a viral disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus) and temporarily stopped attending school. After recovering, he chose not to return to traditional education, instead focusing on information technology at a local community college.
Young Edward Snowden in 2006. Source: arstechnica.com
Flashback to 2004: the U.S., led by President George W. Bush, was engaged in the Iraq War. Snowden, filled with patriotic fervor, signed up for the military and trained with the Special Forces. He later explained: “I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression.”
It’s well-known that Snowden never made it into the Special Forces. His beliefs about the war’s intentions soon crumbled: “Most of the people training us seemed pumped up about killing Arabs, not helping anyone.” After injuring his legs during training exercises, Snowden’s military career came to an abrupt end.
Post-military, Edward worked as a security guard at the University of Maryland, a university that collaborated with the NSA. Even without a specialized degree, Snowden’s talent for technology was evident, and the CIA hired him in 2006.
From the CIA to the NSA
Snowden handled information security tasks at the CIA. His deep grasp of the internet and natural aptitude for programming led to his rapid promotion. It wasn’t long after he started that he was cleared for Top Secret data.
In 2007, Snowden was deployed to Geneva. While there, the future exile witnessed a Swiss banker being recruited for access to classified banking information. Snowden claimed CIA officers intoxicated the banker and encouraged him to drive. After his DUI arrest, an undercover agent, posing as a friend, offered help, leading to the banker’s recruitment.
In the future, Snowden would explain that it was this incident that first made him think about leaking government secrets.
Snowden left the CIA in 2009, joining NSA contractors like Dell and, later, Booz Allen Hamilton. His work took him to Tokyo, Maryland, and Hawaii, where he initiated the activities that would eventually make him one of the world’s most controversial figures.
Unveiling Secrets
During his time at the NSA office in Hawaii in 2013, Snowden grew more and more disturbed by the agency’s surveillance of ordinary citizens through their phone and internet data. He decided to take action and spent the following six months collecting secret documents from the organization.
Having gathered the necessary documents, Snowden took leave, using a story about being diagnosed with epilepsy, and on May 20, 2013, he flew to Hong Kong. There, he met with journalists from The Guardian and The Washington Post, along with documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. Scenes filmed during this time would later be seen in Citizenfour, the documentary on Snowden.
Poster for the documentary “Citizenfour”. Source: youtube.com
Edward provided journalists with thousands of classified documents, the most crucial among them being:
- PRISM — a program that allegedly granted the NSA and other U.S. government agencies access to the servers of companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple;
- Tempora — a data collection system developed by the NSA and its UK counterpart;
- A court order compelling Verizon to provide metadata (like phone numbers dialed and call durations) from millions of its users;
- Information regarding the hacking of Chinese telecom operators and gaining access to their subscribers’ SMS messages.
Later reports confirmed that Snowden had obtained 1.7 million classified documents.
The Guardian revealed the first of Snowden’s materials on June 5. His identity was kept secret until June 9, when he willingly came forward. Snowden believed his actions weren’t illegal, and he also sought to avoid any government pressure on the journalists involved.
Snowden was charged by the U.S. with theft of government property and two violations of the Espionage Act. The accusations included unauthorized sharing of national defense information and intentional transmission of classified intelligence to an unauthorized party.
Safe Haven in Russia
After his meeting with the press, Snowden intended to flee Hong Kong and pass through Russia on his way to Ecuador, where he planned to request refugee status. However, when his flight arrived in Moscow, everything fell apart: the U.S. government revoked his passport, leaving him trapped in the airport.
Snowden spent 40 days stuck in a Moscow airport, trying to negotiate asylum with various countries. After 27 nations rejected him, he ended up settling in Russia, where he remains to this day.
In August 2014, when Snowden’s temporary asylum expired, the Russian authorities gave him a three-year residency permit. It was extended twice, and by September 2022, Snowden had obtained Russian citizenship.
Wrap-Up
Snowden remains a polarizing figure: to some, he's a traitor; to others, he's a hero. Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, stands among his critics, while crypto enthusiasts count themselves among his supporters. No matter how one views him, his actions left a lasting mark on the public. People became aware of the surveillance and learned how to fight back.
The impact of Snowden's revelations on internet users. Source: statista.com
As of September 2024, Edward is still in Russia. He actively promotes internet privacy, keeps up with social media, and makes appearances at several conferences (always virtually). For example, he spoke at Bitcoin 2024 and is already listed as a speaker for TOKEN2024.
Beyond that, Snowden contributed to the development of Zcash, a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency. For a time, he was listed under the alias John Dobbertin, but in 2022, he disclosed his real name.
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