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I believe that at this point in history, the greatest danger to our freedom and way of life comes from the reasonable fear of omniscient State powers kept in check by nothing more than policy documents.

Edward Snowden

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Edward Snowden
Age: 41
Born: 1983
Born: June 21
Computer Scientist
Dissident
Intelligence Analyst
Intelligence Officer
Security Guard
System Administrator
Whistleblower
Elizabeth City
North Carolina
Edward Joseph Snowden
Ed Snowden
Comes
Danger
States
Policy
Omniscient
Nothing
Greatest
Documents
Believe
State
Check
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Life
Freedom
Reasonable
History
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Kept

More quotes by Edward Snowden

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I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest. There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people isn't my goal. Transparency is.
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I don't want to hide. If I get arrested, I get arrested.
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All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed. That is a milestone we left a long time ago.
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The US government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped.
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We have seen enough criminality on the part of government. It is hypocritical to make this allegation against me. They have narrowed the public sphere of influence.
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The government doesn't want us to know what they're doing, how they're interpreting the law, how they're interpreting and redefining their powers, and increasingly, how they're redefining the boundaries of our rights and our liberties, broadly, socially, and categorically without our involvement.
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When it comes to political engagement, I'm not a politician - I'm an engineer.
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We watch our own people more closely than anyone else in the world.
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Encryption works. Properly implemented strong crypto systems are one of the few things that you can rely on. Unfortunately, endpoint security is so terrifically weak that NSA can frequently find ways around it.
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I read these polls because civil-liberties organizations tell me I need to be aware of public opinion.
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So when they say I'm a low-level systems administrator, that I don't know what I'm talking about, I'd say it's somewhat misleading.
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My whole model, from the beginning, was not to personally publish a single document. I provided these documents to journalists because I didn't want my biases to decide what's in the public interest and what is not.
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You would be surprised how effective, at least for influencing low-information voters, negative propaganda about me is.
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Ever since I've been here [in Russia], my life has been consumed with work that's actually fulfilling and satisfying.
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Ending mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen. Yet while we have reformed this one program, many others remain.
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These activities can be misconstrued, misinterpreted, and used to harm you as an individual even without the government having any intent to do you wrong.
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I describe myself as an indoor cat, because I'm a computer guy and I always have been.
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Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring.
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I don't spend all day running hand-on-hat from shadowy figures - I'm in exile.
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I told the government I'd volunteer for prison, as long as it served the right purpose.
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