Edward Snowden, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who in 2013 released thousands of classified documents to expose potentially illegal domestic surveillance programs, will speak as a part of the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) Wednesday Feb. 17 in Shriver Hall at 8 p.m.
His appearance is highly anticipated, yet controversial, as he is wanted in the U.S. for espionage charges, he will appear via Skype from Russia, which granted him asylum.
Snowden worked for the management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor, at an NSA base in Oahu, Hawaii. He was a system administrator, directing and conducting ways to gain access to secure communication systems. He became increasingly uncomfortable with his work and fled to Hong Kong in 2013, where he released classified files to news organizations, most notably The Guardian.
While the majority of Americans disapprove of these government surveillance programs, their opinions suggest Snowden’s actions were nearly as negative as positive, according to a Gallup poll in June 2013.
Despite heavy criticism, he has renewed the debate about how far the government should go to ensure security.
“Our mission is to create dialogue, and this is an opportunity to do so. We don’t shy away from controversial speakers, especially when they have something meaningful to contribute to this dialogue,” FAS Co-Executive Director Jack Laylin said.
The increase in public awareness led many officials to reexamine the programs. In November 2015, the NSA ended the bulk phone data collection program, which stored the metadata of millions of Americans, such as the number, time or duration of calls, but not the content. Now analysts must have a judge’s permission to request targeted phone metadata from telecom companies, a decision that privacy advocates hailed as a major win.
The information that Snowden took from government databases, estimated to range from several hundred thousand to over one million documents, included revelations about mass data collection conducted on American citizens. Some of these programs stored and analyzed data obtained from the telephone and internet records of major technology companies in the U.S., including Google and Verizon. Snowden claimed that the scope of surveillance was far greater than the public knew.
The records of foreign government officials, including U.S. allies, were also released.
“Ideally, this event will encourage students to think critically about the world they live in,” Laylin said. “We are extremely excited at the opportunity to have a personal conversation with [Snowden] and hear what students have to ask him.
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