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Michelle Stupfel
English 102
Professor Tobias Peterson
August 24, 2014
00Snowden or Patriot
It sounds like a scene from a 007 movie, government files were stolen and a man was on
the run. Hoping to make it from country to country, he was stopped in Russia where the United
States Government revoked his passport. And then they saw him a pale, spindle-limbed,
nervous, preposterously young man. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. In his right
hand was a scrambled Rubiks cube. Had there been a mistake? Was this really who they were
looking for? They felt this man was too young, not what they were expecting their informant to
look like, but they continued with the script anyway. What time does the restaurant open?
Greenwald said At noon. But dont go there, the food sucks Snowden replied then he had them
follow him to his room. On Wednesday June 5, 2013 The Guardian let the public know that the
FBI had requested all phone records or telephony metadata from Verizon. Metadata includes
information such as phone numbers, calling card numbers, IMSI and IMEI which are phone
identifiers, and the length of phone calls. Metadata does not include personal information or
content of the phone calls according to the court order. The order only includes phone calls
where one party is in the United States from start to finish of the phone call or where both parties
are in the United States. It does not include phone calls made inside foreign countries from start
to finish. The court order also states that anyone involved in the process that knows this
information is not to tell it to anyone. If they do then they must also tell them they are included

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in the nondisclosure of this information, meaning they cannot tell anyone of it. One main
concern is not really that they are pulling this information, it really is the extent of the records
they are asking for. Usually when the government is looking for records, they have someone in
mind, this is more like a fishing expedition where they arent quite sure where to look. This was
the first of many government secrets leaked by Edward Snowden to Glenn Greenwald, a
freelance columnist at The Guardian. Snowden felt America needed to know they were under
surveillance even though it ultimately cost him his freedom by betraying his country. He had no
personal gain from telling secrets and he says he did it to protect the rights of the constitution.
No matter how anyone else feels, Snowden did something wrong in the eyes of the law and
should pay for his crimes.
Merriam-Webster defines a whistleblower as one who reveals something covert or who
informs against another. Snowden revealed information that was classified to Greenwald, he
informed against the United States. According to the book Whistleblowers Opposing Viewpoints,
there are many reasons people blow the whistle on the companies they work for or have
knowledge about. For some it is for money or revenge but for others their motives are more for
justice or public safety. Snowden is the only one who knows what his actual motives were.
Snowden said he did it because he felt America needed to know what the government was doing
without their knowledge.
Snowden first tried to contact Greenwald in December of 2012 with an email saying he
had some information but his efforts were unsuccessful. Its really annoying and complicated,
the encryption softwareHe kept harassing me, but at some point he just got frustrated so he
went to Laura. Greenwald later said in an interview with the New York Times. Snowden then
started communications with Laura Poitras by requesting her encryption key, this is the only way

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he could send her messages that only she could read. Laura Poitras is a documentary film-maker
who had been working on a documentary for two years about surveillance. She was very
intrigued by the information Snowden said he had, they communicated from January until April
to make sure they could trust each other before Poitras contacted Greenwald. Poitras and
Greenwald met up in New York so she could tell him about her informant and also get
Greenwald in contact with him. In May Snowden left his home in Hawaii, telling his girlfriend it
was a trip that would last a couple of weeks. About two weeks later Greenwald and Poitras went
to Hong Kong to meet Snowden for the first time, they were expecting someone who had been
working for the government for a long time, probably in his 60s. What they found was a 29 year
old man who Greenwald thought could be the son of the source, not the source himself. Once
they heard Snowden tell his story they knew he was the real deal. Even though Snowden was
about to release this information to the public, Greenwald said he seemed very calm, sure of
what he was about to do.
After the initial surveillance leak, a second one was leaked on June 6, 2013 was about a
program called PRISM. The PRISM files were in a PowerPoint presentation showing what
companies were cooperating with the government and the dates they signed up with them.
Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Pal Talk, YouTube, Skype and AOL were the first to sign
up between September 11, 2007 and March 2011. Apple did not sign on until 2012, one year
after the death of Steve Jobs. According to The Snowden Files, a book written by Luke Harding,
the program would allow the government access to emails, posts and instant messages. It seems
that for the terrorists living outside the United States, the government does not need to get
warrants for the information they are collecting. The internet companies deny that the
government has access to their information. Facebook made a statement saying if they are asked

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for certain information, they only give as much information as required by law, others followed
with roughly the same statement. In March of 2013 there was a hearing about the surveillance in
which the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, lied to the committee when asked if
the NSA had collected any type of data, he replied No, sirnot wittingly. When watching the
video of the hearing, Clapper had shifty eyes and could not make eye contact with Senator Ron
Wyden, an obvious sign of lying. This was not the first time America had been told of this
intrusion, back in 2002 there was a whistleblower by the name of William Binney. He worked for
the NSA for 30 years until 2001 when he quit. There was a request by Binney and some
colleagues to investigate the NSA; Not only was the super-secretive agency wasting taxpayer
dollars on ineffective programs, they argued, it was broadly violating constitutional guarantees to
privacy and due process (Gillespie & Winkler). The investigation turned on them and after the
FBI turned his life upside down, he was exonerated. This was a man who did things the way they
were supposed to be done. The Whistleblower Protection Act was supposed to protect him, he
went through the right channels and still it was turned against him. Binney feels Snowden took
the right path but some of the information had nothing to do with the public being under
surveillance and should not have been leaked. Snowden is not protected under the Whistleblower
Protection Act because he was contracted and not an employee of the government, because of
this he would have to stand trial for stealing from the United States government and for
espionage.
There have been quite a few documents leaked by Snowden, another of these was the
NSA program called XKeyscore. I, sitting at my desk, Snowden told The Guardian he could
wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a
personal email. This program would make it possible for analyst to search through emails, chats

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and browsing histories. According to the documents they claim it is the widest-reaching system
for developing intelligence from the internet. They can conduct searches with specific
information such as names, numbers or the specific address of a computer. Once they enter in
their search criteria they would get a return of emails and be able to pick which ones they wanted
to read. Snowden knew about this because he was authorized to use it as a contractor for the
NSA through Booz Allen. It doesnt stop with emails and chats, they can also tap into social
media such as Facebook chats and private messages. The NSA responded to The Guardian after
the leak saying NSAs activities are focused and specifically deployed against and only
against legitimate foreign intelligence targets in response to requirements that our leaders need
for information necessary to protect our nation and its interests. They are saying that it is only
done legally and not by unauthorized personnel. They say there are many checks that happen to
make sure nobody abuses this access.
President Obama at a press conference said when he came into office he made two
commitments, one was keeping the people of America safe and the other was to uphold the
constitution. He went on to say that all representatives for the people were informed of the
programs for Verizon and PRISM. The President said nobody is listening to your telephone
calls and explained the metadata that was being collected. He also assured the public if someone
wanted to listen to a call after having suspicions they would have to get a federal court order and
explain exactly why they wanted that information. Its important to recognize you cant have
100% security and also then have 100% privacy and 0% inconvenience. What that means is if
we want to be secure and safe here in the United States we must be inconvenienced with less
privacy. Really, what does it matter unless you have something to hide, those are the people who
have something to worry about.

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There is so much controversy over what Snowden has exposed, there are people who
agree with what Snowden did and people who do not. In an interview with ABC, Senator Rand
Paul says he feels Snowden did the right thing to expose the government secrets but should have
some kind of fair punishment so he does not have to stay out of the United States in fear for his
life. The information he revealed is unconstitutional and should be addressed, that is why Paul
filed a class action lawsuit against the government for the collection of the metadata, they believe
this violates the Fourth Amendment. Former Senator Gordon Humphrey believes Snowden did
the right thing as long as he did not put anyone in harms way. Like Rand, Humphrey feels this is
a violation of the Constitution, he called Snowden a courageous whistle-blower. The Secretary of
State, John Kerry called Snowden a fugitive and also said If Mr. Snowden wants to come back
to the United States, well have him on a flight todayA patriot would not run away. Edward
Snowden wants to come home but is fearful he will not be treated fairly, he is hoping for
clemency or amnesty but is waiting for the government to make that decision.
Snowden was charged on June 21, 2013 with espionage charges, since he was in Hong
Kong the United States requested he be detained for extradition. Two days later Snowden was on
a flight to Moscow, Hong Kong did not feel the United States complied under the Hong Kong
law with their legal requirements for extradition. Espionage is defined as the practice of spying
or of using spies typically by governments to obtain political and military information. The
Espionage Act of 1917 was passed during World War I. the Espionage Act essentially made it a
crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces
prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the countrys enemies. Anyone found
guilty of such acts would be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years. As
far as we can tell, Snowden did not have the intent of sharing the information to interfere with

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the armed forces, he shared the information as a public service. If Snowden wanted to, he could
have sold the files he took and made money to live anywhere he wanted to, his intentions were
not to hurt the United States but to help the people.
The book The Snowden Files described Snowdens life as a teen and into his early 20s,
and what led him to feel he needed to share government secrets. Snowden did not graduate high
school and went to a community college for his GED. In 2003 he said he felt he had an
obligation to join the war in Iraq, an obligation to help people. His time in the military did not
last, he broke both of his legs during training and was sent home. Once he was home he got a job
as a security specialist for the University for Marylands Center for Advanced Study of
Language. Even though he did not have a diploma Snowden got a job at the CIA, it was an IT
job but still with the CIA. Snowden had a website blog where he basically bragged about having
a job with the CIA without a degree. He traveled for his job and in 2007 traveled to Geneva,
during this time he was around many different people with many different views that helped
Snowden to shape his own opinions. In 2009 the New York Times ran an article with leaked
classified information, when Snowden heard of this he was very angry and posted on his blog.
He was against the Times posting this information and the anonymous source, he said the
information was classified for a reason and believed it was wrong. There is a difference between
what the New York Times did and what Snowden did, the information leaked by the Times was
sensitive covert operation details and Snowden released non-specific information that was
regarding surveillance of the general public. In 2009 Snowden left the CIA and started to work as
a contractor out of Japan for an NSA facility. During his time in Japan he learned a lot about the
NSA and their surveillance activity. By the time he left Japan in 2012, Snowden was a
whistleblower-in-waiting Harding wrote.

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Another controversy right now is whether or not this information that was leaked can hurt
the United States. Army General Keith B. Alexander talked to NBC news stating We have
concrete proof thatterrorist groups and other are [already] taking action, making changes, and
its going to make our job tougher, basically giving a playbook to the enemies. He is saying
that by discussing PRISM, we are telling the terrorists that we can see what they are doing on
websites. The terrorist must already have some idea of this information especially after 9/11, they
cannot just assume we are going to sit back and forget about it. Alexander also says that less than
300 people were looked into in 2012 due to the two programs leaked by Snowden. The
surveillance has also stopped plots against the United States as well as other terrorist activity.
Alexander believes this helps to bring all information together or to connect the dots which we
did not have the ability to do before 9/11. In another Department of Defense article the director
of national intelligence James Clapper said the leaks were the most massive and damaging theft
of intelligence in our history. He also said it has left the nation less safe and its people less
secure If indeed the leaks have given terrorists valuable information, we will be in a world of
hurt. It seems terrorists and other threats to the United States have found out that our government
is watching people, though phone calls, internet and social media. If they did not know this
information previously then they probably werent such a big threat to start with.
According to the Huffington Post about a month after the information was leaked, more
Americans believe Snowden did the wrong thing by taking the files and releasing the information
to Greenwald. There were 38% saying it was wrong, 33% saying it was right and 29% that were
not sure which way to go. A poll taken in January of 2014 shows 40% think the leak was a good
thing, 46% thought it was bad for the country. It has not changed much but the opinion is split on
whether or not they feel it is necessary for the government to collect phone records. When

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asked to come up with a word that describes Edward Snowden, nearly a quarter volunteer either
traitor or a similar word that questions his loyalty to his country, while 8 percent say he is brave
or courageous or a hero. Just 2 percent volunteered that he is a patriot or patriotic, and another
2 percent say terrorist. For the people who feel it was right for Snowden to release the
information because people have a right to know they are under surveillance, how could they not
have known? If people do not have anything to hide, they should not be so upset when metadata
is being collected. It is really to keep Americans safe and not to listen to where Aunt Jenny is
having her dinner party next week or how Sarahs mom is so upset because her teenage daughter
went to a party last night. If there is suspicion of someone because they were talking to a known
terrorist, even if they were not under surveillance before, the government should have the right to
see who else those people are talking to. If they need to pull further records and even possible
check the content, they should be able to do this, with a federal court order. This is how we catch
potential threats and avoid another 9/11 in our country.
Snowden was credited by Senator Patrick Leahy for the start of the USA Freedom Act of
2014. There were many versions thrown around by the US Senate and the House of
Representatives but the final one that was passed did not address the concern of civil liberties. It
was started because of concerns with the NSA abusing their power with surveillance. The USA
Freedom Act of 2014 would ban the NSAs bulk collection of phone metadata under Section 215
of the USA PATRIOT Act, meaning it would, as the Times writes, stop the flow of telephone
data into the computers of the National Security Agency, keeping the information with the phone
companies, where it belongs. People would not have to feel that they were being violated, they
wouldnt be looked into unless there was a reason of suspicion. There are still some loop holes
for the government but Senator Mark Udall and Senator Ron Wyden are working to make sure

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the privacy of Americans is protected and the loopholes are closed. If this newer version is
enacted it would be huge, the government surveillance would have to change and it would be the
first time in nearly 13 years.
It took a lot for Snowden to collect this information and decide to give the files to
Greenwald and Poitras to share with America. His life has been changed forever, he gave up his
job, his girlfriend, his house and his family because he felt that people needed to know that the
government had taken things too far and had surveillance on everyone, not just people they
thought were threats. Unless there is a chance for clemency for Snowden he will most likely not
come back to the United States. No matter how anyone else feels, Snowden did something wrong
and he needs to face the charges against him.

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Works Cited
ABC. Obama on Prism, Phone Spying Controversy. No One Is Listening To Your Phone
Calls YouTube. YouTube, 7 June 2013. Web 16 Aug. 2014
Berlatsky, Noah. What Motivates Whistleblowers. Preface. Whistleblowers.
Detroit, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. 18. Print.
Darcy, Oliver Heres How Rand Paul Things Edward Snowden Should Be
Punished. The Blaze. N.p., 5 Jan 2014. Web 01 Aug. 2014
Duffy, Michael. Firstworldwar.com. First World War.com. N.p., 22 Aug 2009.
Web 03 Aug. 2014
Fuller, Jaime. Rand Paul Files Suit against Obama, NSA Wednesday. The Washington Post, 12
Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Aug. 2014
Greenwald, Glenn. Email Exchange between Edward Snowden and Former
GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey. Theguardian.com. Guardian News
and Media, 16 July 2013. Web 12 Aug. 2014
Greenwald, Glenn. XKeyscore: NSA Tool Collects nearly Everything a User
Does on the Internet Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 31
July 2013. Web 24 Aug.2014
Harding, Luke. The Snowden Files: The inside Story of the Worlds Most
Wanted Man. London: Guardian, 2014. Print

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Maass, Peter. How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets. The
New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2013. Web 23 Aug.
2014.
Oxford Definition of Espionage in English. Espionage: Definition of
Espionage in Oxford Dictionary (American English) (US). N.p., n.d. Web.
16 Aug 2014
Pellerin, Cheryl. United States Department of Defense. Defense.gov News
Article: Alexander: Terrorits Benefit from Snowdens Actions. American
Forces Press Service, 19 July 2013. Web 03 Aug 2014.
Unknown John Kerry to Edward Snowden: man Up, Come Back to U.S.
Washington Post. The Washington Post, 28 May 2014. Web 01 Aug.
2014
Unknown Sen. Leahy Introduces New USA Freedom Act to Curb NSA
Surveillance Powers. Courage Foundation. FREE SNOWDEN IN
SUPPORT OF EDWARD SNOWDEN., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2014
Whistle-blower. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.