[observation, 2014] Returning to the U.S., I think, is the best solution for the government, the pub...
Show more »
[observation, 2014] Returning to the U.S., I think, is the best solution for the government, the public and myself - but it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistle-blower-protection laws which, through a failure in law, did not cover national security contractors like myself.
Show less «
Presidents come and go, but policies stay.
Presidents come and go, but policies stay.
[on Hillary Clinton's private email server] If an ordinary worker at the State Department or the Cen...
Show more »
[on Hillary Clinton's private email server] If an ordinary worker at the State Department or the Central Intelligence Agency ... were sending details about the security of embassies ... meetings with private government officials, foreign government officials, and the statements that were made to them in confidence over unclassified email systems, they would not only lose their job and lose their clearance, they would very likely face prosecution for it. [Sept.2015]
Show less «
when we have all three parts of the government under the control of a single party, that is a moment...
Show more »
when we have all three parts of the government under the control of a single party, that is a moment of systemic risk.
Show less «
[on the 2016 Presidential election] There may never be a safer election in which to vote for a third...
Show more »
[on the 2016 Presidential election] There may never be a safer election in which to vote for a third option.
Show less «
The NSA is surely not the Stasi, but we should always remember that the danger to societies from sec...
Show more »
The NSA is surely not the Stasi, but we should always remember that the danger to societies from security services is not that they will spontaneously decide to embrace mustache twirling and jackboots to bear us bodily into dark places, but that the slowly shifting foundations of policy will make it such that mustaches and jackboots are discovered to prove an operational advantage toward a necessary purpose.
Show less «
There is a technical solution to every political problem...In general, if you agree with the first a...
Show more »
There is a technical solution to every political problem...In general, if you agree with the first amendment principles, you agree with encryption. It's just code. Arguing against encryption would be analogous to arguing against hidden meanings in paintings or poetry.
Show less «
rights are the thing that stands between decades and centuries of the democratic process.
rights are the thing that stands between decades and centuries of the democratic process.
What we recoil against most strongly is not that such surveillance can theoretically occur, but that...
Show more »
What we recoil against most strongly is not that such surveillance can theoretically occur, but that it was done without a majority of society even being aware it was possible.
Show less «
right and wrong has a very different standard with legal and illegal.
right and wrong has a very different standard with legal and illegal.
It's very difficult to respond in a serious way to any statement made by Donald J. Trump. [Sept.2015...
Show more »
It's very difficult to respond in a serious way to any statement made by Donald J. Trump. [Sept.2015]
Show less «
We can't wait for someone to change the country, we have to do it ourselves.
We can't wait for someone to change the country, we have to do it ourselves.
For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished. I already won. As soo...
Show more »
For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished. I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself. All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed.
Show less «
Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American.
Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American.
[on surrendering to the American government] they said they can't promise I'll get a fair trial, the...
Show more »
[on surrendering to the American government] they said they can't promise I'll get a fair trial, they only promised they won't torture me.
Show less «
the law is not a substitute for morality.
the law is not a substitute for morality.
[on the 2016 issue involving a request for Apple to break into a terrorist's cell-phone] The FBI is ...
Show more »
[on the 2016 issue involving a request for Apple to break into a terrorist's cell-phone] The FBI is creating a world where citizens rely on Apple to defend their rights.
Show less «
[on Citizenfour (2014)] When Laura Poitras asked me if she could film our encounters, I was extremel...
Show more »
[on Citizenfour (2014)] When Laura Poitras asked me if she could film our encounters, I was extremely reluctant. I'm grateful that I allowed her to persuade me. The result is a brave and brilliant film that deserves the honor and recognition it has received. My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world.[2015]
Show less «
[on being called a traitor] what we did to traitors in the 1700's was that we made them our Presiden...
Show more »
[on being called a traitor] what we did to traitors in the 1700's was that we made them our President.
Show less «
Would I do it again? ...Absolutely.
Would I do it again? ...Absolutely.
[observation, 2015] I have paid a price, but I feel comfortable with the decisions I've made.
[observation, 2015] I have paid a price, but I feel comfortable with the decisions I've made.
Don't be afraid of tomorrow, be ready.
Don't be afraid of tomorrow, be ready.
rights are a way to implement the will of the majority.
rights are a way to implement the will of the majority.
[on Theresa May] A sort of Darth Vader in the United Kingdom.
[on Theresa May] A sort of Darth Vader in the United Kingdom.
[on living in Russia] I can adapt. I can live life as an American more or less. That's the beauty of...
Show more »
[on living in Russia] I can adapt. I can live life as an American more or less. That's the beauty of the internet, that we are no longer tied to our communities merely by, you know, physical connections. Right now, I'm watching a show [called] The Wire (2002) about surveillance [laughs], which is...I'm really enjoying it. Second season is not so great... [from "Inside the Mind of Edward Snowden", NBC, May 2014]
Show less «
[on Donald Trump being elected President of the United States] This feels like a year in which every...
Show more »
[on Donald Trump being elected President of the United States] This feels like a year in which everybody was wrong about everything, so many people had predictions and so many people had ideas, and I think most Americans, simply could not imagine where we would be, where we are today, and yet here we are.
Show less «
[on Chelsea Manning]she has tried to take her life twice so far, hasn't she suffered enough?
[on Chelsea Manning]she has tried to take her life twice so far, hasn't she suffered enough?
[on the Espionage Act of 1917] this is a law which prohibits who's charged with this crime from tell...
Show more »
[on the Espionage Act of 1917] this is a law which prohibits who's charged with this crime from telling the jury why it is they did what they did, this is fundamentally against the idea of a fair trial, if you can't explain yourself to a jury, why have a trial at all?
Show less «
The reality here is that, yes, Donald J. Trump has appointed a new director of the Central Intellige...
Show more »
The reality here is that, yes, Donald J. Trump has appointed a new director of the Central Intelligence Agency who uses me as a specific example to say that, look, dissidents should be put to death. But if I get hit by a bus, or a drone, or dropped off an airplane tomorrow, you know what? It doesn't actually matter that much to me, because I believe in the decisions that I've already made. [2016]
Show less «
[by video-link from Moscow to the TED conference, March 18, 2014] People should be able to buy a boo...
Show more »
[by video-link from Moscow to the TED conference, March 18, 2014] People should be able to buy a book online..without wondering about how these events are going to look to an agent of the government...The NSA had 2,776 violations of US Presidential orders, and the Foreign Surveillance act in just a single year... We don't have to give up our privacy to have good government. We don't have to give up our liberty to have security...I didn't do this to be safe. I did this to do what was right. I'm not going to stop my work in the public interest.
Show less «
There have, of course, been some stories where my calculation of what is not public interest differs...
Show more »
There have, of course, been some stories where my calculation of what is not public interest differs from that of reporters, but it is for this precise reason that publication decisions were entrusted to journalists and their editors. I recognize I have clear biases influencing my judgment.
Show less «
[on current threats to basic freedoms] There is a far cry between legal programs, legitimate spying,...
Show more »
[on current threats to basic freedoms] There is a far cry between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement - where it is targeted, it's based on reasonable suspicion, individualized suspicion and warranted action - and the sort of dragnet mass surveillance that puts entire populations under a sort of an eye and sees everything, even when it is not needed. This is a trend in the relationship between the governing and the governed in America.
Show less «
every act of progression in our country, included conflict with the law.
every act of progression in our country, included conflict with the law.
