Quotes by Edward Snowden

About Edward Snowden:

Edward Joseph is an American computer professional, former CIA employee, and former government contractor who leaked classified information from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013. The information revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.

Edward Snowden

I grew up with the understanding that the world I lived in was one where people enjoyed a sort of freedom to communicate with each other in privacy, without it being monitored, without it being measured or analyzed or sort of judged by these shadowy ...

Edward Snowden

America is a fundamentally good country. We have good people with good values who want to do the right thing. But the structures of power that exist are working to their own ends to extend their capability at the expense of the freedom of all publics...

Edward Snowden

For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished. I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I w...

Edward Snowden

I do not expect to see home again, though that is what I want.

Edward Snowden

Bathtub falls and police officers kill more Americans than terrorism, yet we've been asked to sacrifice our most sacred rights for fear of falling victim to it.

Edward Snowden

After 9/11, many of the most important news outlets in America abdicated their role as a check to power - the journalistic responsibility to challenge the excesses of government - for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market durin...

Edward Snowden

There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

Edward Snowden

I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong's rule of law.

Edward Snowden

You can't come forward against the world's most powerful intelligence agencies and be completely free from risk.

Edward Snowden

I have been a systems engineer, systems administrator, a senior adviser for the Central Intelligence Agency, a solutions consultant and a telecommunications information systems officer.

Edward Snowden

I've been a spy for almost all of my adult life - I don't like being in the spotlight.

Edward Snowden

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.

Edward Snowden

I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong.

Edward Snowden

I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions.

Edward Snowden

I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.

Edward Snowden

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. Tra...

Edward Snowden

The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all ...

Edward Snowden

The NSA routinely lies in response to congressional inquiries about the scope of surveillance in America.

Edward Snowden

My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate.

Edward Snowden

Author Bio

  • NameEdward Snowden
  • DescriptionAmerican whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor
  • AliasesEdward Joseph Snowden
  • BornJune 21, 1983
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionSystem Administrator; Intelligence Officer; Security Guard; Intelligence Analysist
  • AwardsSam Adams Award; Fritz Bauer Prize; Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize; Right Livelihood Award; Stuttgart Peace Prize; Carl-von-Ossietzky-Medaille; Whistleblower Prize; Bjørnson Prize