I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can’t allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I’m not going to be part of that. Edward Snowden Read Quote
They still have negligent auditing, they still have things going for a walk, and they have no idea where they’re coming from, and they have no idea where they’re going. And if that’s the case, how can we, as the public, trust the NSA with all of our information, with all of our private records, the permanent record of our lives? Edward Snowden Read Quote
What does that mean for a society, for a democracy, when the people that you elect on the basis of promises can basically suborn the will of the electorate? Edward Snowden Read Quote
If I had to describe myself, I wouldn’t use words like ‘hero.’ I wouldn’t use ‘patriot,’ and I wouldn’t use ‘traitor.’ I’d say I’m an American and I’m a citizen, just like everyone else. Edward Snowden Read Quote
Perhaps I am naive, but I believe that at this point in history, the greatest danger to our freedom and way of life comes from the reasonable fear of omniscient State powers kept in check by nothing more than policy documents. Edward Snowden Read Quote
What we’ve seen over the last decade is we’ve seen a departure from the traditional work of the National Security Agency. They’ve become sort of the national hacking agency, the national surveillance agency. And they’ve lost sight of the fact that everything they do is supposed to make us more secure as a nation and a society. Edward Snowden Read Quote
No one would argue that it’s in the United States’ interest to have independent knowledge of the plans and intentions of foreign countries. But we need to think about where to draw the line on these kind of operations so we’re not always attacking our allies, the people we trust, the people we need to rely on, and to have them in turn rely on us. Edward Snowden Read Quote
I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. Edward Snowden Read Quote
