I see that we have the same capabilities as the Chinese government, and we are applying them domestically - just as they are. National Security Officials: Edward Snowden's Leaks Were Masked By Job Duties They're just open and out there, saying, 'Yeah, we're doing this. But also, in a strange way, surprised by the openness with which they use them. I'm appalled by the aggression with which they use them. seeing what exactly is it that China is doing? What are their capabilities? Are they hacking? Are they doing domestic surveillance? Are they doing international surveillance? What is occurring?Īnd I'm just shocked by the extent of their capabilities. I'm invited to give a presentation about how China is hacking the United States intelligence services, defense contractors, anything that we have available in the network, which I know a little bit about but not that much about, because they have the person who is supposed to be giving the presentation drop out.

On how researching China's surveillance capabilities for a CIA presentation got him thinking about the potential for domestic surveillance within the U.S.

Your purchase helps support NPR programming. would cancel my passport,' he says.Ĭlose overlay Buy Featured Book Title Permanent Record Author Edward Snowden 'What I wasn't expecting was that the United States government itself. But when his plane landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, things didn't go according to plan. government considered him a traitor in violation of the Espionage Act.Īfter meeting with the journalists, Snowden intended to leave Hong Kong and travel - via Russia - to Ecuador, where he would seek asylum. To Snowden, the classified information he shared with the journalists exposed privacy abuses by government intelligence agencies.

intelligence agencies' surveillance of American citizens. In 2013, Edward Snowden was an IT systems expert working under contract for the National Security Agency when he traveled to Hong Kong to provide three journalists with thousands of top-secret documents about U.S. Reflecting on his decision to go public with classified information, Edward Snowden says, 'The likeliest outcome for me, hands down, was that I'd spend the rest of my life in an orange jumpsuit, but that was a risk that I had to take.'

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden