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Privacy Government Technology

Edward Snowden: 'The People Are Still Powerless, But Now They're Aware' (theguardian.com) 155

Posted by msmash from the Closer-look dept.
Edward Snowden has no regrets five years on from leaking the biggest cache of top-secret documents in history. He is wanted by the US. He is in exile in Russia. But he is satisfied with the way his revelations of mass surveillance have rocked governments, intelligence agencies and major internet companies. From a report Snowden, weighing up the changes, said some privacy campaigners had expressed disappointment with how things have developed, but he did not share it. "People say nothing has changed: that there is still mass surveillance. That is not how you measure change. Look back before 2013 and look at what has happened since. Everything changed."

The most important change, he said, was public awareness. "The government and corporate sector preyed on our ignorance. But now we know. People are aware now. People are still powerless to stop it but we are trying. The revelations made the fight more even."
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Edward Snowden: 'The People Are Still Powerless, But Now They're Aware' More

Edward Snowden: 'The People Are Still Powerless, But Now They're Aware'

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  • Narrator: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dallas May ( 4891515 ) on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @02:43PM (#56732436)

    Narrator: "Unable to bare the thought of his fellow Americans being spied on by their government, our hero releases the top secret documents and flees to... *pauses... squints at script...* Russia."

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's just being practical. Name any developed country that 1) isn't spying on its citizens and 2) wouldn't cave to US pressure to hand Snowden over. The second consideration outweighs the first when it's your own life on the line.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Iceland.

        Snowden was actually on his way to South America for some reason... Ecuador was supposed to give him asylum, but I think I'd much rather live in Iceland.

        • Ecuador was supposed to give him asylum, but I think I'd much rather live in Iceland.

          I don't know that Ecuador actually could have done the job. That area is kind of the USA's special ops playground.

    • Re:Narrator: (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ChromeAeonuim ( 1026946 ) on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @03:11PM (#56732668)
      A more accurate way of putting that is that the US is so full of shit that he had to turn to Russia, of all places, for his own safety. Instead of trying to fix the problem, the US government decided to try to shoot the messenger who uncovered their criminal activity (and yes, until the Fourth Amendment is officially repealed instead of just blatantly disregarded, spying on citizens is still criminal).

    • Re: Narrator: (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @03:34PM (#56732832)

      Actually, he fled to Ecuador, but the State Department yanked his passport and he got stuck in Russia. People like to skip that bit...

      • Got stuck in Russia during a stopover on a international flight that was not supposed to pass through Russia but was redirected mid-flight allegedly to avoid a storm, the airline claimed later.

      • Yeah, I once tried to drive from new York to Los Angeles but accidentally got stuck in Abhu Dhabi.

        • Yeah, I once tried to drive from new York to Los Angeles but accidentally got stuck in Abhu Dhabi.

          The real news here is that you've got a goddamned flying car and you're keeping quiet about it.

    • flees to... *pauses... squints at script...* Russia."

      What was his alternative? Residing in Russia does not imply endorsement of Russia's policies.

    • well, he wanted to be able to inform the people of what he had found, and he wanted to not die in the process. He hasn't exactly hailed russia as a great place, but there just aren't exactly a lot of options.

  • That is the sound of inevitability... o wait maybe i confused inevitability with futility...

  • Hero (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @02:49PM (#56732494)

    Snowden gave up everything for a bunch of morons that for the most part don't give a shit. They deserve whatever comes next.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Yeah, I remember him once saying that he'd regret what he had done, if no reform ended up coming out of it. Not only did we not get any reform, the American people seem to have fully embraced it. Every bill that increases the power of these agencies, sails through without a hiccup.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )
        Umm, that's because a certain minority representative party has gamed the system for 30 years to enable this end-game. And end-game it is, just not the one they wanted. The GOP will disintegrate over the next year or two. It's going to be interesting.

        • The GOP will disintegrate over the next year or two.

          People keep saying that, and then their supporters keep embracing ever-greater levels of hypocrisy and corruption.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Gr8Apes ( 679165 )

            The GOP will disintegrate over the next year or two.

            People keep saying that, and then their supporters keep embracing ever-greater levels of hypocrisy and corruption.

            I'm not sure they can get any worse than today and still retain the dressings of democracy.

          • Isn't it unfortunate that BOTH party supporters do this? Sorry, but if you look at the actual policies of both parties, they are virtually identical.

            • Isn't it unfortunate that BOTH party supporters do this? Sorry, but if you look at the actual policies of both parties, they are virtually identical.

              Only if you ignore racism, sexism, gay, trans, and women's rights, which I notice is what you've done there

              • With the exception of a few nuts in BOTH parties, nothing ever changes, it's rhetoric. I'm saying what do they DO, not say.

                • With the exception of a few nuts in BOTH parties, nothing ever changes, it's rhetoric. I'm saying what do they DO, not say.

                  You can compare voting records and see that there are substantive differences between the parties in these areas. You can also see that there are no differences between them in other areas, but that doesn't change the first fact.

            • Yes, but until recently, the Democrats at least offered the illusion of intellectual superiority and the moral high ground. Who knew that they were every bit as succeptible to moral panic as the far rightest of right wingers? I didn't actually think that they were as easy to manipulate as they've proven themselves to be, nor did I think that they would so easily take positions which were outright cruel. Alas, all it took for them to devolve into a cauldron of pathological hypocricy, was for the ruling-cl

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Well, the only thing that could happen happened: a change of government. But probably this had little impact.

      It's really a failing of (US) democracy that all possible society issues are funneled through only two choices that offer 90% the same thing. Personally, I'm a proponent of the smallest possible federal government, not because I'm into small government but because there's no democracy at the federal level. Another solution would be to elect the secretaries individually.

  • to not know, and continue to be blissfully ignorant, or suffer the pain of knowing, and being unable to do anything about it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zlives ( 2009072 )

      there are things you can change... like not use facebook or smart phones....
      at least you make that choice knowingly.
      on the other hand.... lalalalalala... i can't hear you may be more to the liking of some.

  • There are things you can't change, things that only our legislators can affect, but you can still take back a measure of your privacy moving forward -- you just have to be willing to do what it takes to make that happen.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Bullshit. When the TLA can use even your TV to spy on you, how would you even know what they're using to spy on you?

      So, no TV's, routers, smart devices, phones, or electronics of any kind.

      Surveillance tech has become so miniaturized that it could be in anything. Even if you think you don't have any devices that could be spying on you, you could still be wrong. It should would be nice if the government just followed the rules that it creates.

      • Wow, and people have accused me of being a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy nut. Or are you trolling me? Either way you're dumb and/or wrong, depending on what part of your rant I want to address -- and I can't be bothered to sit here and pick it apart. Calm down.

        • Vault 7, learn what it is. "Weeping Angel" in particular turned smart tvs into spy tvs.

          When it comes to domestic spying, being a "tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy nut" just means you're paying attention.

          • Can't speak for the majority but neither I nor anyone I know fell for the 'smart TV' meme, and the few who bought one don't ever connect it to the internet for any reason.

        • AC may be paranoid but that doesn't make AC necessarily wrong. Most TV's can spy on you. Your smart phone most certainly can spy on you. All those voice assistants are of course listening. We have seen different articles over the past months and years that show just that happening.

          Unless you give up modern life, you are going to be spied on. Maybe if you move to a less technical part of the world and give up all your fancy computer tech, you may gain back privacy.

          Is privacy really worth giving up that much?

          • Yes yes yes I KNOW all that already and tell others the same regularly. I do not have a 'smart TV', or a smartphone, or a voice assistant, or any of the other useless toys that have been leveraged into being surveillance devices, and I have not 'given up modern life', and it's wrong of you to characterize it that way. You can be smart about some things and take back SOME of your privacy moving forward. Stay off 'social media'. Don't use a smartphone. Don't buy things with cameras and microphones that are '

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Re 'things that only our legislators can affect"
      That was attempted in the 1970's. The NSA and CIA one into a private room with US politicians.
      The use of budgets and the US legal system attempted to stop illegal domestic spying.

      The CIA just went full Iran Contra to get new funds and outpace any US changes to CIA funding.
      Nothing changed to domestic US collection.

      But the world now knows about PRISM, the junk US big brand crypto. The social media spying.
      The telco spying. The illegal domestic collecti

  • We are swarmed with real and fake information all the time. Real information may be used out of context, Fake information can be made to sound realistic, and if it fits into your particular world view it makes a lost of sense.

    We are no better off knowing the truth, when it is mixed in a bunch of lies, except for the fact we are now anxious about it.

  • Willful Ignorance proves things are worse. (Score:4)

    by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @03:11PM (#56732664)

    Sorry, but nothing has really changed. In fact it's probably worse now.

    Users used to be unaware, and they didn't give a shit about security or privacy. Now they're fully aware, and they STILL don't give a shit about security or privacy. It's willful ignorance.

    And what people are truly powerless over, are their own internet addictions and peer pressure. It's FAR more important to overshare and generally be the internet narcissist society expects you to be than it is to recognize and respect any risk involved with that activity.

  • Aware of what? (Score:4)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Tuesday June 05, 2018 @03:11PM (#56732666)
    Did I miss something?

  • being aware and powerless isn't much different than having power, yet being unaware.

    The end result is the same.

    Nothing changes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      People can now LOL at the "crypto" experts the big US brands use.
      The academics that assured the world their special crypto was a standard, tested and totally safe.
      The legal teams who invited "other agencies" to connect their brand up to US collect it all spying.
      The power of spying is gone.
      People cannot change the illegal domestic spying but the academics and big brands experts are now a joke.
  • Comrade Snowden has spoken and thus it is true!!

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