Edward Snowden: Mass surveillance backfiring on US anti-terrorism efforts

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NSA leaker Edward Snowden speaks at South By Southwest Interactive Festival via the internet, advocating greater use of encryption and saying he's satisfied with his decision to leak.

Washington: America's spy agencies are so focused on "mass surveillance" that they have missed clues about terrorist incidents, such as last year's Boston Marathon bombing and an attempted attack on an aircraftat Christmas in 2009, former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden says.

In an hour-long video discussion on Monday hosted by the South by Southwest music, film and technology conference in Austin, Texas, Mr Snowden, who is living in asylum at an undisclosed location in Russia, asserted that the US National Security Agency's efforts to collect information in bulk have backfired.

"We've actually had a tremendous intelligence failure because ... we're monitoring everybody's communications instead of suspects' communications" - a situation, he asserts, that has "caused us to miss" intelligence.

"We've actually had a tremendous intelligence failure because ... we're monitoring everybody's communications instead of suspects' communications": Edward Snowden. Photo: Reuters

Mr Snowden, who faces criminal espionage charges for disclosing top-secret documents to journalists, has prompted a global debate about surveillance and forced the US government to be more transparent about once-classified programs.

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His actions have drawn harsh criticism from senior US officials, who contend that the leaks have put national security at risk, but approval from technologists and privacy advocates, who say the leaks have forced technology companies to make their systems more secure.

"Let me be clear about one thing," said American Civil Liberties Union principal technologist Christopher Soghoian, one of two ACLU representatives who took part in the discussion with Mr Snowden: "His disclosures have improved internet security."

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Edward Snowden: Mass surveillance backfiring on US anti-terrorism efforts