Edward Snowden claimed that a damaging culture of silence exists at the NSA In testimony to the European Parliament said that he tried to complain ten times about their spying programs to superiors Was advised to keep quiet and to maintain a low profile Said that as a contractor with no legal protection from complaining was left with no choice but to leak the information to the press

By James Nye

PUBLISHED: 17:29 EST, 9 March 2014 | UPDATED: 17:29 EST, 9 March 2014

Whistleblower: Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency claims he tried to complain 10 times to his superiors

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden claims that he tried 10 times to make formal complaints about government spy programs but no one listened to him.

According to testimony given to the European Parliament released on Friday the former NSA contractor claims that as a contractor, rather than a government worker, he was not protected from raising concerns and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Instead of benefiting from Obama's Presidential Policy Directive 19, under which federal employees can question classified programs, Snowden felt that 'individuals like me were left with no proper channels.'

'As an employee of a private company rather than a direct employee of the U.S. government, I was not protected by U.S. whistle-blower laws, and I would not have been protected from retaliation and legal sanction for revealing classified information about lawbreaking in accordance with the recommended process,' Snowden said in his testimony according to the Washington Post.

Snowden previously worked for the CIA before joining the NSA in Hawaii as a contractor from Booz Allen Hamilton.

Private: The Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp office building is seen in McLean, Virginia June 11, 2013. Contracting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp fired Edward Snowden, after he admitted to releasing information on the U.S. government's broad monitoring of American's phone and Internet data

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Snowden claims he raised concerns about NSA internally 10 times before leaking documents

WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) -- Former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden said he was brushed off when he tried to discuss his concerns about surveillance with officials.

Snowden's responses to questions by members of the European Parliament were released Friday, the New York Times reported. He said he approached more than 10 National Security Agency officials.

The NSA has previously said it found no sign that Snowden had tried to work internally. His leaks have resulted in his being charged under the Espionage Act and have embarrassed the U.S. government and many of its allies.

Snowden said he got warnings that complaints could get him into trouble or that they would have no effect.

"Even among the most senior individuals to whom I reported my concerns, no one at NSA could ever recall an instance where an official complaint had resulted in an unlawful program being ended, but there was a unanimous desire to avoid being associated with such a complaint in any form," he said.

Snowden also said he has not worked with Chinese or Russian intelligence agencies. He traveled to Russia, where he received temporary asylum, from Hong Kong.

Also Friday, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said the government has not provided a convincing reason to keep electronic data for more than five years, the Hill reported.

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Snowden says he tried to discuss NSA surveillance internally

In written testimony before the European Parliament, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden said he is seeking asylum in the European Union but he has not received "a positive response to the requests I sent to various EU member states."

Snowden continues: "Parliamentarians in the national governments have told me that the US, and I quote, 'will not allow' EU partners to offer political asylum to me, which is why the previous resolution on asylum ran into such mysterious opposition. I would welcome any offer of safe passage or permanent asylum, but I recognize that would require an act of extraordinary political courage."

Snowden sent the parliament a 12-page document in which he answers the questions of some MPs.

Snowden, again repeated, that he had "no relationship" with China and Russia.

When he was asked if he was approached by the Russian secret service, he said, "Of course." He went on:

"Even the secret service of Andorra would have approached me, if they had had the chance: that's their job.

"But I didn't take any documents with me from Hong Kong, and while I'm sure they were disappointed, it doesn't take long for an intelligence service to realize when they're out of luck. I was also accompanied at all times by an utterly fearless journalist with one of the biggest megaphones in the world, which is the equivalent of Kryptonite for spies. As a consequence, we spent the next 40 days trapped in an airport instead of sleeping on piles of money while waiting for the next parade. But we walked out with heads held high.

"I would also add, for the record, that the United States government has repeatedly acknowledged that there is no evidence at all of any relationship between myself and the Russian intelligence service."

Below we've embedded the full document.

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Edward Snowden To Speak Via Skype - Freedom Fighter Or Fugitive Outlaw?
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Snowden speaks at SXSW, GabeN AMA, DirectX 12 - Netlinked Daily
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Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo wants organizers of South by Southwest Interactive to back out of their scheduled video conference interview of Edward Snowden.

The Edward Snowden lookalike contest at last year's hacker conference DefCon. The real deal is expected to make a video appearance at SXSW Interactive on Monday.

A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Pompeo, published an open letter to South by Southwest Interactive conference organizers on Friday demanding that they rescind their invitation to Edward Snowden.

Pompeo, R-Kan., said he was "deeply troubled" by the scheduled video appearance of Snowden, whom he described as lacking the credentials to authoritatively speak on issues pertaining to "privacy, surveillance, and online monitoring."

Snowden is scheduled to speak by video conferencing on Monday at 11 a.m. CT with Christopher Soghoian, a privacy advocate and principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, who will be onstage at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Moderated by Ben Wizner, the director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, Snowden is expected to answer audience questions.

The panel, "A Virtual Conversation with Edward Snowden," will focus on the impact of the NSA spying revelations and how technology can be used to protect privacy.

Snowden's "only apparent qualification," Pompeo wrote, "is his willingness to steal from his own government and then flee to that beacon of First Amendment freedoms, the Russia of Vladimir Putin."

Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo (R).

Representing Kansas' fourth district, Pompeo has been critical of Snowden's whistle-blowing. He described Snowden as a "traitor" in the press release announcing the SXSW letter, and said that the documents leaked by Snowden are "now in the hands of other countries."

Snowden and the reporters to whom he leaked the NSA documents have denied that accusation, saying he gave all his copies of the documents to reporters.

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Kill the Snowden interview, Congressman tells SXSW

SURVEILLANCE WHISTLEBLOWER Edward Snowden has responded to the European Parliament's questions about PRISM and data privacy.

Snowden's testimony to the Parliamentary inquiry on electronic mass surveillance saw the whistleblower discuss his role at the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the things that the agency required him to do. He also answered some questions presented by the parliament.

Snowden, who alerted the world to the PRISM internet surveillance system, said that excessive surveillance has a counter-intuitive impact and does more harm than good.

"The suspicionless surveillance programs of the NSA, GCHQ, and so many others that we learned about over the last year endanger a number of basic rights which, in aggregate, constitute the foundation of liberal societies," he said.

"I believe that suspicionless surveillance not only fails to make us safe, but it actually makes us less safe. By squandering precious, limited resources on 'collecting it all,' we end up with more analysts trying to make sense of harmless political dissent and fewer investigators running down real leads. I believe investing in mass surveillance at the expense of traditional, proven methods can cost lives, and history has shown my concerns are justified."

He was of course at the thin end of this surveillance and claimed that the NSA asked him to spy on individuals and that this was done with the full support of the US government national security establishent.

"I worked for the United States' Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency. I love my country, and I believe that spying serves a vital purpose and must continue. And I have risked my life, my family, and my freedom to tell you the truth," he added.

"The NSA granted me the authority to monitor communications worldwide using its mass surveillance systems, including within the United States. I have personally targeted individuals using these systems under both the President of the United States' Executive Order 12333 and the US Congress' FAA 702."

Speaking directly to his audience, he bought these capabilities home, explaining that they were all layed out in front of him like so many open books. "I am telling you that without getting out of my chair, I could have read the private communications of any member of this committee, as well as any ordinary citizen. I swear under penalty of perjury that this is true," he added.

"These are not the capabilities in which free societies invest. Mass surveillance violates our rights, risks our safety, and threatens our way of life."

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Edward Snowden testifies to the European Parliament about the NSA

AUSTIN, Texas, March 7 (UPI) -- NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is living as a fugitive in Russia, will speak by teleconference to the South by Southwest festival in Austin on Monday.

Snowden, who fled the United States last June with thousands of secret documents, will participate in a discussion and answer audience questions in an 11 a.m. session that will be livestreamed by the Texas Tribune.

"The conversation will be focused on the impact of the NSA's spying efforts on the technology community and the ways in which technology can help to protect us from mass surveillance," a release from SXSW says.

Snowden will be joined by Christopher Soghoian, the principle technologist from the American Civil Liberties Union, and moderated by Ben Wizner, Snowden's legal advisor and the director of the ACLU's Speech Privacy & Technology Project.

[SXSW]

Excerpt from:
Edward Snowden to speak to SXSW

By Josh Rubin, CNN

updated 5:34 AM EST, Wed March 5, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Austin, Texas (CNN) -- Even though he can't set foot in the United States for fear of arrest, fugitive National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has joined the speakers' roster at this year's South by Southwest Interactive Festival.

Snowden, who fled the United States in June with thousands of top-secret documents, will appear via teleconference Monday from Russia for a discussion about how the tech community must defend itself against mass surveillance.

Snowden will chat with Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

"The conversation will be focused on the impact of the NSA's spying efforts on the technology community and the ways in which technology can help to protect us from mass surveillance," an SXSW news release says.

Audience members will be allowed to ask questions, and The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit media organization, intends to livestream the session.

Josh Baer, a tech entrepreneur who has been attending the festival for more than 15 years, said he is excited to hear what Snowden has to say.

"The news and the government each have so many different perspectives," Baer said. "It's always refreshing to get it straight from the source."

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Snowden to speak from Russia at SXSW

STRASBOURG, Germany, March 7 (UPI) -- European Union lawmakers received a 12 page testimony from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that says the NSA has been spying on all of Europe.

"I know the good and the bad of these systems, and what they can and cannot do, and I am telling you that without getting out of my chair, I could have read the private communications of any member of this committee, as well as any ordinary citizen." wrote Snowden in his testimony.

Snowden did not reveal any new information in the testimony but said there are more programs that would infringe on EU citizens' rights but that information will be given to responsible journalists.

Snowden explains that the NSA exploited loopholes in data agreements with individual countries to spy on the whole of Europe. The report being considered by the European parliament could put an end to the Safe Harbor agreement which allows U.S. tech companies to self-certify that they are following EU data protection laws. Further action by the EU could spell trouble for companies like Google.

Snowden also added that he would accept asylum from a European country if offered and once again reaffirmed he has not worked with the Russian or Chinese governments although did say that the Russian secret service did approach him.

"Even the secret service of Andorra would have approached me, if they had the chance: that's their job," wrote Snowden, "But I didn't take any documents with me to Hong Kong, and while I'm sure they were disappointed, it doesn't take long for an intelligence service to realize when they're out of luck."

[HuffPost Live]

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Edward Snowden to EU: NSA is spying on all of Europe