Edward Snowden was a computer programmer. He was well-known for the act of leaking top secret details related to the surveillance activities of NSA. At this time, he was working as a National Security Agency subcontractor.
Upon releasing these top confidential information, Edward Snowden decided to fly all the way to Hong Kong and seek protection. That’s where he met a filmmaker named Laura Poitras and some journalists from The guardian newspaper. That’s where newspapers started publishing information leaked by Edward Snowden. Most of the newspapers published articles about the detailed monitoring of American Citizen that are being carried out.
When the news started spreading, authorities in United States charged him with violation of Espionage Act. However, another group of people started calling Edward Snowden as a hero. In the meantime, Edward Snowden got into Russia. That’s where he continued the work. He was able to work with Laura and come up with a documentary video as well. This documentary was about the life story of Edward Snowden. It also won an Oscar Award back in the year 2015.
Early life and education of Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden was born in North Carolina in the year 1983. Elizabeth City was his hometown. Mother of Edward Snowden worked for the Federal Court in Baltimore. Father was a Coast Guard Officer.
Edward Snowden is a person who got dropped out from the high school. That’s where he got into the Anne Arundel Community College and study computer science. Edward Snowden had gone through a special forces training during his early 20s. However, he encountered an accident during the training activities where he broke both his legs. As a result, he was discharged from the army. The experience that he got while training for the United States Army provided an excellent overall assistance to him when he was trying to achieve great things in the upcoming years.
Working as a NSA Subcontractor
The opportunity that Edward Snowden got to work as a NSA subcontractor changed his life. Before getting into this position, Edward Snowden has been working as a security guard at the University of Maryland. It had connection with the NSA. As a result, he was taken to an IT job in the CIA.
In the year 2009, Edward Snowden was suspected on trying to get into some of the classified files. That’s where he was made working as a subcontractor. Before working as a subcontractor from Hawaii, Edward Snowden had spent his time in working as a subcontractor from Japan.
The leaks of Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden became world famous for his NSA leaks. During the IT days, Edward Snowden was able to notice something special in the NSA surveillance. In fact, he noticed that he can gain access to some of the top secret documents that belonged to NSA. He didn’t think twice before he got hold of these details. Those details were distributed to general public at a later stage, which got Edward Snowden into a series of troubles. These documents contained a lot of information about the domestic surveillance practices that were carried out by NSA.
Edward Snowden compiled a massive store of documents. That’s where he went ahead and told the NSA supervisor that he is in need of a leave. In fact, he told that he is not feeling week and he wanted to take a leave due to medical reasons. When additional information were asked, Edward Snowden told that he is diagnosed with epilepsy.
On 20th of May, 2013, Edward Snowden got into a flight and flew to Hong Kong. That’s where he met the journalists from The Guardian. It was one of the most prominent publications. This provided an excellent assistance for Edward Snowden to make his information public as well.
The secret documents that The Guardian newspaper obtained from Edward Snowden were published on 5th of June. Inside these documents, information related to a foreign intelligence surveillance court, which was introduced to capture the phone activities of people in United States were published. On the next day, Edward Snowden published some top secret information related to PRISM. In this attempt, he got the assistance of The Guardian Newspaper as well as The Washington Post. This showcased how NSA is collecting real time information on people with the help of digital devices. Along with that, a flood of information were made public.
Edward Snowden was not happy about the way how United States government were peeking into the privacy of people. Edward Snowden also noticed that the government has had taken a look at his privacy. As a result, Edward Snowden stated that he is not happy at all about the acts taken by the government of United States to peek into the privacy of people unnecessarily and he is even willing to sacrifice his life to stop that from taking place.
Charges filed against Edward Snowden
Soon after the release of confidential information about NSA, the authorities from United States went ahead and filed charges against him. These charges were filed legally. The government stated that Edward Snowden has become a victim of stealing property that is owned by the government of United States. In addition to that, it was told that Edward Snowden is not an authorized person to get hold of those details, even if he has been working as a subcontractor for NSA.
The final two charges for Edward Snowden were put under the Espionage Act. Some of the people in United States call Edward Snowden as a traitor. However, it is also possible to find a large number people who appreciate and support the work done by Edward Snowden. Once there was an online petition, which asked President Barack Obama toa pardon Edward Snowden for the work that he did. More than 100,000 people have signed this petition as well. It clearly shows that a lot of people appreciate the work that he did.