'I don't want to live in a world where everything I do is recorded,' says America's most wanted man as he comes out of hiding to reveal why he blew the whistle on US online spying
America’s most wanted man has broken
cover to reveal why he decided to leak documents from one of the world’s
most notorious spy organisations.
Former CIA worker Edward Snowden admitted he would be ‘made to suffer’ after triggering shockwaves across the globe by handing over top-secret files from the US National Security Agency (NSA).
The 29-year-old whistleblower, who earned £130,000 a year ($200,000), exposed chilling details of how the covert agency, based in Maryland, gathers private information from people around the world – including in Britain – using a programme called Prism.
Revealing why he blew the whistle he said: '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.'
The Prism system gives officials easy access to data held by nine of the world’s top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Skype.
Mr Snowden, who is currently hiding in Hong Kong, acted after becoming convinced the US government’s bid to harvest personal information from millions of individuals was a ‘threat to democracy’.
And he described how he fears he will be kidnapped and returned to America to face espionage charges and possible life in prison – or even murdered on Washington’s orders.
'I do not expect to see home again,' he said.
Mr Snowden could face decades in jail if he is extradited from Hong Kong, said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents whistleblowers. And Senator Peter King, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called for Mr Snowden to be ‘extradited from Hong Kong immediately . . . and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’. He added: ‘I believe the leaker has done extreme damage to the US and to our intelligence operations.’
Mr Snowden spoke to The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers from a hotel room in Hong Kong where he is on the run after making one of the most significant leaks in US history – on a par with Wiki-Leaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.
He said he would ‘ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimisation of global privacy’.
Mr Snowden had been
working at the NSA for the past four years as an employee of defence
contractor Booz Allen Hamilton after working for the CIA as a technical
assistant, specialising in computer security. His role allowed him
access to classified material.
And today Booz Allen branded his alleged actions 'shocking', promising to conduct a full investigation into the matter.
In a statement, the firm said: 'Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than three months, assigned to a team in Hawaii.
'News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.'
However, Snowden said he had raised his concerns with his superiors, but had been ignored.
He said: ‘I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong. I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions but I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.
‘My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.
'What they're doing (poses) an existential threat to democracy,' he added.
Damagingly for the British security services at GCHQ, Snowden claims that they compiled dossiers using Prism research on almost 200 occasions.
Foreign Secretary William Hague will give a statement to the Commons on the issue this afternoon.
Tory Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the committee of MPs and peers which oversees the work of the security services, said GCHQ would need authority for any request to monitor the emails of a UK citizen, even if the surveillance was carried out by the US agencies.
Sir Malcolm told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'One of the big questions that's being asked is if British intelligence agencies want to seek to know the content of emails, can they get round the normal law in the UK by simply asking an American agency to provide that information?
'The law is actually quite clear: if the British intelligence agencies are seeking to know the content of emails by people living in the UK, then they actually have to get lawful authority. Normally that means ministerial authority.'
Sir Malcolm's Intelligence and
Security Committee will carry out a visit to Washington this week to
meet representatives from the CIA and NSA, which was arranged before the
Prism disclosures.
The former foreign secretary said it was 'perfectly well known' that 'in order to protect the public that does require, as President Obama said in Washington, some intrusion on privacy in certain circumstances'.
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told Today it was 'vital' that the public had confidence that the security and intelligence services were 'operating within a framework of accountability and legality'.
He said Mr Hague 'does need to seek to give assurances to Parliament about the laws and procedures that are in place, in particular in relation to our vital information-sharing relationship with the United States'.
Mr Alexander said: 'Of course we want information sharing. The people who want to do harm to the UK operate internationally and those who are trying to keep us safe need to operate internationally as well.
'But on the other hand, in terms of the character and the nature and the timing of the requests that are made by the UK to the US, potentially involving UK citizens as well as international citizens, that needs to be conducted on the basis of the legal framework set out by Parliament.'
Clapper blasted what he called 'reckless disclosures' of the highly classified spy agency project code-named PRISM by Snowden.
'Over the last week we have seen reckless disclosures of intelligence community measures used to keep Americans safe,' he said.
Mr Snowden has said he was
content to sever his ‘very comfortable life’, which included a
six-figure salary, a girlfriend, a home in Hawaii and his family, to
shine a light on the NSA’s widening surveillance net.
He said: ‘I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.’
NSA chiefs were ‘intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them,’ he said.
‘I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity. The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to.’
A Hawaii real estate agent said on Sunday that Snowden and his girlfriend moved out of their home in a quiet neighborhood near Honolulu on May 1, leaving nothing behind.
Century
21 real estate agent Kerri Jo Heim said that the owner of the house
wanted the couple out so that the home could be sold.
Heim says police came by on Wednesday to ask where the couple went. She told them she didn't know.
Carolyn Tijing, who lived across the street from Snowden, says the couple had moving boxes lining their garage from floor to ceiling before leaving the neighborhood suddenly.
According to The Guardian, Snowden copied the final set of documents he intended to disclose three weeks ago.
He then told his boss and his girlfriend that he'd be away for a few weeks, keeping the reasons vague as only someone working in intelligence can, and on May 20, he boarded a plane to Hong Kong, where he remains in hiding.
Former CIA worker Edward Snowden admitted he would be ‘made to suffer’ after triggering shockwaves across the globe by handing over top-secret files from the US National Security Agency (NSA).
The 29-year-old whistleblower, who earned £130,000 a year ($200,000), exposed chilling details of how the covert agency, based in Maryland, gathers private information from people around the world – including in Britain – using a programme called Prism.
Revealing why he blew the whistle he said: '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.'
The Prism system gives officials easy access to data held by nine of the world’s top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Skype.
Mr Snowden, who is currently hiding in Hong Kong, acted after becoming convinced the US government’s bid to harvest personal information from millions of individuals was a ‘threat to democracy’.
And he described how he fears he will be kidnapped and returned to America to face espionage charges and possible life in prison – or even murdered on Washington’s orders.
'I do not expect to see home again,' he said.
Mr Snowden could face decades in jail if he is extradited from Hong Kong, said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents whistleblowers. And Senator Peter King, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called for Mr Snowden to be ‘extradited from Hong Kong immediately . . . and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’. He added: ‘I believe the leaker has done extreme damage to the US and to our intelligence operations.’
Mr Snowden spoke to The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers from a hotel room in Hong Kong where he is on the run after making one of the most significant leaks in US history – on a par with Wiki-Leaks whistleblower Bradley Manning.
He said he would ‘ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimisation of global privacy’.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Empty and on the market: Edward Snowden's former
home in Waipahu, Hawaii, which he fled last month for Hong Kong so he
could leak details about the U.S. government's secret surveillance
programs
Secrets: A neighbour said today that the garage
at the home had boxes stacked floor to ceiling when Snowden was planning
his escape
And today Booz Allen branded his alleged actions 'shocking', promising to conduct a full investigation into the matter.
In a statement, the firm said: 'Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than three months, assigned to a team in Hawaii.
'News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.'
However, Snowden said he had raised his concerns with his superiors, but had been ignored.
He said: ‘I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong. I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions but I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.
‘My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.
'What they're doing (poses) an existential threat to democracy,' he added.
Damagingly for the British security services at GCHQ, Snowden claims that they compiled dossiers using Prism research on almost 200 occasions.
Foreign Secretary William Hague will give a statement to the Commons on the issue this afternoon.
Tory Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the committee of MPs and peers which oversees the work of the security services, said GCHQ would need authority for any request to monitor the emails of a UK citizen, even if the surveillance was carried out by the US agencies.
Sir Malcolm told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'One of the big questions that's being asked is if British intelligence agencies want to seek to know the content of emails, can they get round the normal law in the UK by simply asking an American agency to provide that information?
'The law is actually quite clear: if the British intelligence agencies are seeking to know the content of emails by people living in the UK, then they actually have to get lawful authority. Normally that means ministerial authority.'
- Video interview courtesy of Glenn Greernwald and Laura Poitras at The Guardian
Message:
'I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy,
internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world,'
Edward Snowden says
The former foreign secretary said it was 'perfectly well known' that 'in order to protect the public that does require, as President Obama said in Washington, some intrusion on privacy in certain circumstances'.
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told Today it was 'vital' that the public had confidence that the security and intelligence services were 'operating within a framework of accountability and legality'.
He said Mr Hague 'does need to seek to give assurances to Parliament about the laws and procedures that are in place, in particular in relation to our vital information-sharing relationship with the United States'.
Mr Alexander said: 'Of course we want information sharing. The people who want to do harm to the UK operate internationally and those who are trying to keep us safe need to operate internationally as well.
'But on the other hand, in terms of the character and the nature and the timing of the requests that are made by the UK to the US, potentially involving UK citizens as well as international citizens, that needs to be conducted on the basis of the legal framework set out by Parliament.'
Across the Atlantic, the first call for Snowden's prosecution came from Republican Peter King, the chairman of a House Homeland
Security subcommittee and a member of the Intelligence Committee.
'If Edward Snowden did
in fact leak the NSA data as he claims, the United States government
must prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law and begin
extradition proceedings at the earliest date,' King said in
a written statement. 'The United States must make it clear that no
country should be granting this individual asylum. This is a matter of
extraordinary consequence to American intelligence.'
US security chief, Director of
National Intelligence James Clapper, has launched an aggressive defense
of a secret government data collection program.Clapper blasted what he called 'reckless disclosures' of the highly classified spy agency project code-named PRISM by Snowden.
'Over the last week we have seen reckless disclosures of intelligence community measures used to keep Americans safe,' he said.
Snowden's decision to flee to Hong Kong is a gamble, but its
free speech laws mean he does have a slim chance of avoiding being swept back
to America.
Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty with the United
States in 1997, just before Britain handed it back to China.
Row: A security guard stands outside the US
consulate in Hong Kong today, where inside officials will be trying to
extradite Snowden back to the United States
In it both agreed to send fugitives back and forth in the
majority of cases, but there were also political exemptions negotiated at the
time.
Hong Kong has the 'right of refusal when surrender
implicates the "defense, foreign affairs or essential public interest or
policy'' of the People's Republic of China'.
China itself has no extradition
treaty with America at all.
Hong Kong officials also have the right to say no to extradition if they
believe that the attempt is 'politically motivated'. This means that they will
protect free speech if a person is being arrested just for their political opinions.
The United States may have already approached Interpol or its
consulate in Hong Kong to start proceedings. They will use the Espionage Act to
gain warrants for his arrest.
Hong Kong’s authorities can hold Snowden for 60 days,
following a U.S. request that includes probable cause, while Washington
prepares a formal extradition request.
Explaining why he chose to go there Snowden, whose exact
location in the city remains a mystery, said : 'Mainland China does have
significant restrictions on free speech but the people of Hong Kong have a long
tradition of protesting in the streets, making their views known.
'I believe that the Hong Kong government is actually
independent in relation to a lot of other leading Western governments'.
But
in recent years several people have been extradited to the United
States for a variety of alleged crimes, and there is only one case where
they refused.
Defensive: Director of National Intelligence
James R Clapper said in a statement Saturday that disclosures on
intelligence gathering practices were 'reckless'
He said: ‘I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.’
NSA chiefs were ‘intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them,’ he said.
‘I don’t want to live in a world where there’s no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity. The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to.’
A Hawaii real estate agent said on Sunday that Snowden and his girlfriend moved out of their home in a quiet neighborhood near Honolulu on May 1, leaving nothing behind.
Informant: The Director of National Intelligence
James R Clapper, left, released a statement on PRISM, which is reported
to have been used to gather information from
the servers of companies like Facebook
Heim says police came by on Wednesday to ask where the couple went. She told them she didn't know.
Carolyn Tijing, who lived across the street from Snowden, says the couple had moving boxes lining their garage from floor to ceiling before leaving the neighborhood suddenly.
According to The Guardian, Snowden copied the final set of documents he intended to disclose three weeks ago.
He then told his boss and his girlfriend that he'd be away for a few weeks, keeping the reasons vague as only someone working in intelligence can, and on May 20, he boarded a plane to Hong Kong, where he remains in hiding.
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