Edward Snowden takes NSA victory lap, criticizes Russia in New York Times op-ed
This week, President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act, formally winding down the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone metadata. On Friday, The New York Times published a triumphant op-ed from the man who exposed that program, Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia. Cheering "the power of an informed public," Snowden said that "ending the mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen." He concluded:
Not everything is rosy, he said. After lauding changes in U.S. and foreign laws and expectations, plus technological changes to ensure privacy, Snowden listed some troubling trends in various countries. Most interestingly, giving his domicile, he criticized "the arbitrary passage of anti-privacy laws, such as those now descending upon Russia." Read Snowden's entire op-ed in The New York Times.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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