Putin on Snowden: Russia not kind of country which gives up those who fight for human rights – Video


Putin on Snowden: Russia not kind of country which gives up those who fight for human rights
The US is to blame for whistleblower Edward Snowden ending up in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. "[Snowden] arrived at our transit zone and later it was explained that...

By: RT

View post:
Putin on Snowden: Russia not kind of country which gives up those who fight for human rights - Video

Edward Snowden’s legacy? House passes curbs on NSA surveillance

Edward Snowden disclosed the massivecollection and storage of US calling data by the NSA last year. Now mostHouse members can now say they voted to end what many critics consider the most troubling practiceSnowdendisclosed.

The House has moved the U.S. closer to ending the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records, the most significant demonstration to date of leakerEdwardSnowden'simpact on the debate over privacy versus security.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

But the final version of the legislation, "watered down" in the words of one supporter, also showed the limits of that impact. The bill was severely weakened to mollify U.S. intelligence agencies, which insisted that the surveillance programs that shocked many Americans are a critical bulwark against terror plots.

The bill was approved 303-121, which means that most House members can now say they voted to end what many critics consider the most troubling practiceSnowdendisclosed the collection and storage of U.S. calling data by the secretive intelligence agency. But almost no other major provision designed to restrict NSA surveillance, including limits on the secret court that grants warrants to search the data, survived the negotiations to get the bill to the House floor.

And even the prohibition on bulk collection of Americans' communications records has been called into question by some activists who say a last-minute change in wording diminished what was sold as a ban.

"People will say, 'We did something, and isn't something enough,'" said Steven Aftergood, who tracks intelligence issues for the Federation of American Scientists. "But this bill doesn't fundamentally resolve the uncertainties that generated the whole controversy."

Though some privacy activists continued to back the bill, others withdrew support, as did technology companies such as Google and Facebook.

Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said, "I believe this is a workable compromise that protects the core function of a counterterrorism program we know has saved lives around the world."

Link:
Edward Snowden's legacy? House passes curbs on NSA surveillance

Edward Snowden: Inspired by Video Games to Expose Govt. Surveillance – Video


Edward Snowden: Inspired by Video Games to Expose Govt. Surveillance
According to famous Guardian writer, Glen Greenwald, during his talks with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, he revealed an interesting tidbit about himself. From his point of view as an NSA...

By: NerdAlert

Read more from the original source:
Edward Snowden: Inspired by Video Games to Expose Govt. Surveillance - Video

Snowden takes a selfie with Glenn Greenwald

Edward Snowden got together Thursday with the British journalist who first reported the NSAs spying tactics and snapped a selfie to commemorate the occasion.

The selfie, first posted to Facebook on Thursday morning, shows the infamous NSA leaker grinning with journalist Glenn Greenwald, documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras and Greenwalds partner, David Miranda.

Snowden has been living in Russia since he was granted asylum there.

Miranda posted the selfie of the foursome and another photo of himself with Snowden on his Facebook account with the playful caption, Snowden selfie! Greenwald then shared it on Twitter and confirmed that the photo was snapped by the former NSA contractor.

In June 2013, Snowden exposed NSA secrets and leaked documents to Poitras and Greenwald in a Hong Kong hotel room over a series of interviews.

Greenwald published the spy secrets in an article for the Guardian on June 5, setting off a controversy over the United States surveillance programs that reverberated around the world.

This is the first photo that Snowden and Greenwald have taken together.

See original here:
Snowden takes a selfie with Glenn Greenwald

Edward Snowden Appears in New Selfie With Glenn Greenwald

World Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras have been reunited.

Greenwalds partner, David Miranda, posted on Facebook Thursday this selfie of the four of them. This was, according to Greenwalds own accounts, the first time that Snowden was in the same room with the two journalists who helped bring his story to the world. The last time the three of them were together was for their first meeting in Hong Kong last year.

The selfie was presumably taken in Moscow, where Snowden arrived in June after disclosing documents about the inner workings of the National Security Administration, though it couldve been taken elsewhere as Snowden lives in an undisclosed location.

The documents Snowden disclosed revealed the NSA was collecting cellphone metadata from hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and snooping on nations considered allies of the U.S.

Greenwald recently said on Charlie Rose that he was going to Russia for a joint interview with Snowden.

See the rest here:
Edward Snowden Appears in New Selfie With Glenn Greenwald