12/25/2022 0 Comments Hero or Traitor? Private or Public?![]() Whether one considers Snowden a hero or a traitor may depend on their personal beliefs about government surveillance, privacy, and national security. Even though Snowden stated that he sees himself as neither a traitor nor a hero, his reasoning for disclosing information about any wrongdoing mirrors a hero. A hero is a person who, in the opinion of others, has remarkable achievements and is noted for courageous acts or nobility. After watching the Ted talk, "Here's how we take back the Internet," in class, it is evident that Edward Snowden matches this definition, considering how he revealed the extent of the U.S. government's surveillance of its citizens and foreign nationals. In 2013, Snowden, a contractor working for the National Security Agency (NSA), leaked classified information about secret government programs that collected massive amounts of data from phone and internet communications. Snowden is courageous and selfless. To start, Snowden took a significant personal risk to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. In other words: "Edward Snowden is the lion that bit the head off the dog" (Anderson). This quotation perfectly encompasses and expands on his bold ambition. In my opinion, he acted courageously in the face of potential harm and damaging legal repercussions because he wanted to safeguard people's liberties and privacy. He declared that "if we [humans] don't stand up to make the changes we need to do to keep the Internet safe, not just for us but for everyone, we're going to lose that, and that would be a tremendous loss." (Snowden) Some people may be afraid of the consequences of speaking out or taking action, especially if they are vulnerable or if the issues they are advocating for are controversial or unpopular. Snowden shows the traits of a hero when having the same sense of moral responsibility as those who do stand up for change. Furthermore, demonstrating the traits of a hero, Snowden was willing to sacrifice his safety and well-being to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. Snowden realized that by disclosing the material, he would probably be prosecuted and forced to flee his country and live in exile. Nevertheless, he decided to speak up and draw attention to the problem, displaying a strong sense of altruism and a willingness to put the interests of others ahead of his own. The purpose of Snowden's leaks was to do minor damage to both the functioning of the government and the people instead of gaining the most negative attention towards the government possible. Overall, Snowden is handling the situation with respect and caution. His actions remind me of a quote from the book 1984: "For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself" (Orwell 354). Winston has to keep all of his hatred locked up, which the activist compared to a cyst, so that his camouflage would not go down and he would have the ability to live another day. In a real-life situation like the one Snowden shows, he remains composed. ![]() Additionally, Snowden's disclosures sparked a debate about the balance between national security and individual privacy. Since he has taken part in countless interviews and appearances in public, such as the Ted Talk, this has revealed for many that there are several privacy issues in the 21st century, specifically data collection. I see the most harm that people need to be made aware of the information on them that is being gathered, how it is being utilized, and how it might be shared or revealed. For instance, users of online services or applications, ranging from Amazon to Instagram, can be forced to accept long terms of service agreements that describe the data being gathered. I am confident that a large population is not aware of what data is being collected about them. This huge privacy issue limits people's control over their data! Even Snowden suggested, "Our expectation of privacy is violated when the capabilities of government surveillance have become cheaper by order of magnitude, and each time that occurs, we need to revisit and rebalance our privacy rights" (Snowden). It has become so simple for companies to know everything about a person with the simple press of an "Accept" button. Data collection can also limit people's control by making it difficult or impossible for them to opt-out of having their data collected. This shows that these privacy rights need to be reviewed and rebalanced. Improving the idea behind this issue will take work. Our world is already so used to the issue of data collection that it is unlikely to go through a day without having a single piece of information gathered by the government. It is as if there are "always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed—no escape" (Orwell 34). Day-to-day actions are watched unwillingly (even though we clicked on the accept button), meaning that every link one accesses, every video one watches, and every advertisement one falls for is being tracked. People will feel more vulnerable and exposed as data collection, which I believe is the most significant privacy issue of the 21st century, worsens.
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