I could not but marvel at the irony of life when I read of the controversy in America as a result of the massive leaking of information about the National Security Agency's activities to members of the public by a certain whistleblower by name, Edmund Snowden.

The issue? Snowden had revealed to Guardian columnist, Glenn Greenwald, the existence of a growing stockpile of millions of phone records from the US public and direct access to files from the servers of major tech companies such as Google and Facebook.

Privacy concerns there...but the NSA claims the vast mining operation is to anticipate and prevent terror plots. In any case, why should any US citizen be so afraid if he has nothing to hide? The US govt certainly have their own faults as well...the people were not aware.

But that is not even my own concern...I cannot but paint the same scenario here in Naija- the air of pride with which a Nigerian government would have declared this same thing as one of the scientific and technological achievements of its administration. In this case, the government itself would blow it's own whistle.

In a country like Nigeria where accurate census cannot be conducted, this same thing that is creating controversy in the US would have certainly been a course for celebration!


http://www.tutubranch.com/2013/06/Edward-snowden-whistlebower-nsa.html

Why did you decide to become a whistleblower?

A: "The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.

"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-why

The Washington Post, at his request, also revealed Snowden's identity on Sunday and reported that his motivations stemmed from a desire to expose the growing ‘surveillance state’ in the US. Along with the Guardian, the Post published an explosive report about the existence of a program called PRISM on Thursday, which was based on documents provided by Snowden and showed that the spy agency has the ability to access the online data from the world's largest private internet systems.

“As I advanced and learned the dangerous truth behind the U.S. policies that seek to develop secret, irresistible powers and concentrate them in the hands of an unaccountable few, human weakness haunted me,” Snowden wrote in a note that accompanied the first documents he leaked to the Post. “As I worked in secret to resist them, selfish fear questioned if the stone thrown by a single man could justify the loss of everything he loves."

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/06/10

Edward Snowden = st00p1d guy, st00p1d m0ve

This Edward Snowden guy is a hero-feeling masochist. I don't see anything wrong with Uncle Sam scanning the whole world for nut-cases so the rest of us can feel safe and informed. Ofcourse almost everyone knows at the back of their mind that the almighty USA ought to have gizmos that does things like what this disturbed, indignant-feeling guy risked his life, liberty, money and comfortability for, all to feel HEROIC. I just don't get it.

ghostofsparta: This Edward Snowden guy is a hero-feeling masochist. I don't see anything wrong with Uncle Sam scanning the whole world for nut-cases so the rest of us can feel safe and informed. Ofcourse almost everyone knows at the back of their mind that the almighty USA ought to have gizmos that does things like what this disturbed, indignant-feeling guy risked his life, liberty, money and comfortability for, all to feel HEROIC. I just don't get it.

you dont understand the effect of the big brother watching you.

kunlekunle:

you dont understand the effect of the big brother watching you.

Special effect or butterfly effect? Which effect?

johnie:

“As I advanced and learned the dangerous truth behind the U.S. policies that seek to develop secret, irresistible powers and concentrate them in the hands of an unaccountable few, human weakness haunted me,”

You never halla...welcome to "The land of the Free".

logica: You never halla...welcome to "The land of the Free".

The home of the brave, the trailblazers.