Edward Snowden and us

There has been a lot of hoopla around Edward Snowden allegedly leaking information from the National Security Agency. Snowden has been charged with espionage, which some would say is unfair for a whistleblower’s reward.

Not everyone is tuned into the intrigue. Most working-class people are locked into survival mode, trying to make it from paycheck to paycheck. The current security leaks and the privacy issues that it has spawned seem like material for a suspense movie script, not anything that could affect their lives.

Snowden is now on the run, trying to find a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S. Snowden’s expose is being called one of the most explosive security leaks in U.S. history.

He is said to have released classified documents that unveil the covert cooperation of communication corporations like Verizon and Google with NSA through a top secret program called Prism. Snowden claims that the phone information of millions of Americans is being collected and analyzed without warrants and, according to many civil liberties advocates, without cause.

 Here’s what I find curious about Snowden and which may be of more significance to the average, working-class person who believes that government snooping is not a problem for them. Snowden was a low-level employee of NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, with high-level security clearance. The company confirmed that he had only worked for them for three months.  

That means private individuals, not only faceless government agencies, have access to all kinds of information about us.  Employees in companies have access to our financial, medical, education, employment and police records. Just like the government, these employees can abuse their positions of trust. They may not be jeopardizing national security, but a person with harmful intentions can do a lot of damage to your personal and emotional security.

The infamous snooping by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover on people’s personal lives helped him to keep six presidents in check and hold onto his job until his death.  President Harry S. Truman once accused Hoover of transforming the FBI into his private secret police force.

Jilted spouses and lovers, disgruntled employees and a sordid array of folks have gotten hold of information that they used for manipulation, blackmail and character assassination. The long-term damage to that person is just as real as the leaks of Snowden and Julian Assange are to national security. It can even lead to death as when a stalker found his victim’s home through Google maps.  

We must all get engaged in the conversation about privacy concerns by starting with checks and balances to minimize abuse at all levels. There are many places that collect information on us. Without our knowledge or consent, they share and sell that information to others. Surveillance cameras capture our every move. Sometimes we know they are on, other times we don’t. This country is in a tug-of-war between civil liberties and national security. You may not care who Big Brother is watching today, but tomorrow he may be watching you.