“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 figures or systems, any time they mention anything that travels across public lines.”

former United States National Security Agency contractor

Edward Joseph Snowden is a former United States National Security Agency contractor known for leaking classified documents that exposed global surveillance programs. His disclosures made him a central figure in debates over privacy, intelligence gathering, and government surveillance. Snowden worked as an intelligence contractor before releasing the material that brought his name into public view. Since then, he has been identified with criticism of mass surveillance and with arguments about the balance between security and civil liberties.