[bestbits] More revelations to come, says Snowden

[Guru गुरु]

The WCIT "Freedom of expression storm troopers" should note, "“More 
communications are being intercepted in America about Americans than 
there are in Russia about Russians, Mr. Snowden said."

Guru


  More revelations to come, says Snowden

March 20, 2014

The former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden emerged from his 
Russian exile Tuesday in the form of a remotely-controlled robot to 
promise more sensational revelations about U.S. spying programmes.

Mr. Snowden’s face appeared on a screen as he manoeuvred the wheeled 
android around a stage at the TED gathering, addressing an audience in 
Vancouver without ever leaving his secret hideaway.

“There are absolutely more revelations to come,” he said. “Some of the 
most important reporting to be done is yet to come.”

Mr. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who has been 
charged in the United States with espionage, dismissed the public debate 
about whether he is a heroic whistleblower or traitor. Instead, he used 
the conference organised by educational non-profit organisation TED 
(“Technology Entertainment Design”), to call for people worldwide to 
fight for privacy and Internet freedom.

Internet creator Tim Berners-Lee briefly joined Mr. Snowden’s interview 
with TED curator Chris Anderson, and came down in the hero camp. When 
Mr. Anderson posed the question to the TED audience — known for famous, 
innovative, and influential attendees — the idea that Mr. Snowden was a 
force for good met with applause. “Hero patriot or traitor; I would say 
I am an American citizen just like anyone else,” Mr. Snowden said. “What 
really matters here is the kind of government we want; the kind of 
Internet we want.” He said he was inspired to pass a huge trove of NSA 
files to reporters when he saw U.S. spying tactics going too far and 
intruding into the private data of millions of Internet and telephone 
customers.

Mr. Snowden argued that if he had gone to the U.S. Congress with his 
concerns he would have risked being “buried along with the information.” 
He instead urged the “adversarial press” to challenge government and 
ignite public debate “without putting national security at risk.” He 
argued that the dangers critics have played up regarding disclosure of 
information have not materialised, and insisted that he remains 
comfortable with his decisions. He depicted the NSA’s Prism programme 
for getting user information from Internet firms as a way for the U.S. 
government to “deputise corporate America to do its dirty work.” And he 
blasted a U.S. secret court for seldom rejecting National Security 
Agency requests to compel Internet titans to turn over user data and 
U.S. legislators for showing little oversight.

Mr. Snowden urged Internet companies to stand up against online snooping 
by encrypting online activity by default so spies could easily note 
anything from book browsing at Amazon.com to visiting websites.

People should be able to book air travel, order books, make phone calls 
and send text messages without worrying about how it will look to an 
agent of the government, he declared.

“More communications are being intercepted in America about Americans 
than there are in Russia about Russians,” Mr. Snowden said. He argued 
that the NSA was making the U.S., and the world, less safe by lobbying 
for weak standards that could open back doors into online venues or 
services such as online commerce or banking. “Our basic freedoms are not 
a partisan issue,” he said. “It is up to us to protect them; it is up to 
us to preserve the open Internet.” Mr. Snowden endorsed the campaign by 
Berners-Lee for a global Magna Carta laying out values and rights on the 
Internet. “A Magna Carta for the Internet is exactly what we need,” Mr. 
Snowden said.

Mr. Anderson said that the NSA had been invited to take part in the TED 
chat with Mr. Snowden but it did not work out “for logistical reasons.” 
— AFP

SOURCE - 
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/more-revelations-to-come-says-snowden/article5807667.ece
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