Edward Joseph Snowden (born 1983) - American technical specialist and special agent, ex-employee of the CIA and the US National Security Agency (NSA).
In the summer of 2013, he handed over to the British and American media classified information from the NSA regarding the mass surveillance of information communications between citizens of many countries of the world by the American intelligence services.
According to the Pentagon, Snowden stole 1.7 million critical classified files, many of which involved major military operations. For this reason, he was put on the international wanted list by the US government.
There are many interesting facts in Snowden's biography, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Edward Snowden.
Snowden's biography
Edward Snowden was born on June 21, 1983 in the US state of North Carolina. He was raised and raised in the family of Coast Guard Lonnie Snowden and his wife, Elizabeth, who was a lawyer. In addition to Edward, his parents had a girl named Jessica.
All of Snowden's childhood was spent in Elizabeth City, and then in Maryland, near the headquarters of the NSA. After completing his secondary education, he continued his studies at college, where he mastered computer science.
Later, Edward became a student at the University of Liverpool, receiving his master's degree in 2011. Three years later he was drafted into the army, where an unpleasant incident happened to him. During military exercises, he broke both legs, as a result of which he was discharged.
From that moment in his biography, Snowden has been closely associated with work related to programming and IT technology. In this area, he reached great heights, having managed to show himself as a highly qualified specialist.
Service in the CIA
From an early age, Edward Snowden confidently moved up the career ladder. He acquired his first professional skills at the NSA, working in the security structure of a secret facility. After some time, he was offered to work for the CIA.
After becoming an intelligence officer, Edward was sent under diplomatic cover to Switzerland as the US Ambassador to the United Nations.
He had to ensure the security of computer networks. It is worth noting that the guy tried to bring only benefits to society and his country.
However, according to Snowden himself, it was in Switzerland that he began to realize more and more that his work in the CIA, like all the work of the US intelligence services in general, brings people much more harm than good. This led to the fact that at the age of 26 he decided to leave the CIA and start working in organizations subordinate to the NSA.
Initially, Edward worked for Dell, after which he worked as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton. Every year he became more and more disillusioned with the activities of the NSA. The guy wanted to tell his compatriots and the whole world the truth about the true actions of this organization.
As a result, in 2013, Edward Snowden decided to take a very risky step - to disclose secret information exposing the American special services in total surveillance of the citizens of the entire planet.
An interesting fact is that Snowden wanted to "open up" back in 2008, but did not do this, hoping that Barack Obama, who came to power, would restore order. However, his hopes were not destined to come true. The newly elected president followed the same policy as his predecessors.
Exposures and prosecutions
In 2013, the ex-CIA agent began work on the publicity of classified information. He contacted film producer Laura Poitras, reporter Glenn Greenwald and publicist Barton Gellman, inviting them to provide sensational stories.
It is important to note that the programmer used coded e-mail letters as a method of communication, in which he sent about 200,000 secret documents to journalists.
Their level of secrecy was so high that it surpassed in importance the previously published materials on WikiLeaks regarding crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the publication of the documents provided by Snowden, a world-class scandal erupted.
The entire world press wrote about declassified materials, as a result of which the US government was heavily criticized. Edward's revelations were full of facts regarding the surveillance of citizens of 60 states and 35 European government departments by American intelligence services.
The intelligence officer made public the information about the PRISM program, which helped the secret services to follow the negotiations between the Americans and foreigners using the Internet or telephone.
The program made it possible to listen to conversations and video conferences, have access to any e-mail boxes, and also own all the information of users of social networks. Interestingly, many major services have collaborated with PRISM, including Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Skype and YouTube.
Snowden provided the facts that the largest mobile operator, Verizon, sent metadata to the NSA every day for all calls made in America. Another guy talked about the secret tracking program Tempora.
With its help, special services could intercept Internet traffic and telephone conversations. Also, the society learned about the software installed on the "iPhone", which allows tracking the owners of these gadgets.
Among the most high-profile revelations of Edward Snowden was the interception by the Americans of telephone conversations of the participants of the G-20 summit, which was held in the UK in 2009. According to a closed Pentagon report, the programmer owned approximately 1.7 million classified documents.
Many of them related to military operations carried out in various branches of the armed forces. According to experts, in the future, these materials will be gradually disclosed in order to undermine the reputation of the US government and the NSA.
This is not the entire list of Snowden's sensational facts, for which he had to pay dearly. After revealing his identity, he was forced to urgently flee the country. Initially, he was hiding in Hong Kong, after which he decided to seek refuge in Russia. On June 30, 2013, the former agent asked Moscow for political asylum.
The Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, allowed Snowden to remain in Russia on the condition that he no longer engage in subversive activities by the US intelligence services. At home, Edward's colleagues condemned his act, arguing that by his actions he caused irreparable damage to the intelligence service and to America's reputation.
In turn, the European Union reacted negatively to the prosecution of Snowden. For this reason, the European Parliament has repeatedly called on the EU not to punish the intelligence officer, but, on the contrary, to provide him with protection.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Edward said: “I have already won. All I wanted was to show the public how it is being run. " The guy also added that he always worked for the good of recovery, and not for the collapse of the NSA.
Many video games were later released based on Snowden's biography. Also, books and documentaries about the intelligence officer began to be published in different countries. In the fall of 2014, a 2-hour documentary titled Citizenfour. Snowden's Truth ”dedicated to Edward.
The film won such prestigious film awards as Oscar, BAFTA and Sputnik. An interesting fact is that in Russian cinemas this picture became the leader in distribution among non-fiction films in 2015.
Personal life
In an interview, Snowden admitted that he has a wife and children. It is reliably known that since 2009 the dancer Lindsay Mills remains his beloved.
Initially, the couple lived in a civil marriage on one of the Hawaiian islands. According to a number of sources, at the moment Edward lives with his family in Russia, as evidenced by the photos that periodically appear on the Web.
If you believe the words of journalists who spoke with the American, then Snowden is a kind and intelligent person. He prefers to lead a calm and measured life. The guy calls himself an agnostic. He reads a lot, being carried away by the history of Russia, but spends even more time on the Internet.
There is also a widespread belief that Edward is vegetarian. He also doesn't drink alcohol or coffee.
Edward Snowden today
Edward has several times declared his readiness to return to America, subject to a trial with a jury. However, at the moment, not a single ruler of the country has provided him with such guarantees.
Today the guy is working on creating a program that could reliably protect users from external threats. It is worth noting that although Snowden continues to criticize US policy, he often speaks negatively about the actions of the Russian authorities.
Not so long ago, Edward gave a lecture to the Mossad bosses, showing a lot of evidence of NSA infiltration into the structure of Israeli intelligence. As of today, he is still in danger. If he falls into the hands of the United States, he faces about 30 years in prison, and possibly a death sentence.
Snowden Photos
