Edward Snowden Thinks Even The EUs Sweeping Privacy Law Is Too Weak – Forbes

Edward Snowden speaking from Russia at Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

International laws aimed at protecting citizens from having their data collected by private companies and governments dont go far enough, according to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who helped reveal the U.S. governments secret surveillance programs.

Speaking via video chat from Russia at a keynote session on Monday evening at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Snowden talked about his evolution from contractor turned whistleblower before pivoting to the ongoing discussion over data privacy around the world. Asked what he thinks about the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)the European Unions sweeping data collection law that went into effect last yearhe said its a good bit of legislation, but added that the mistake is in the name. He said the law is a paper tiger, adding that companies that help governments with data collection and surveillance have made a Faustian bargain, or a deal with the devil.

The problem isnt data protection, he said. The problem is data collection. Regulating protection of data presumes that the collection of data in the first place was proper, that it was appropriate and that it doesnt represent a threat or danger. That its okay to spy on your customers or your citizens so long as it never leaks, so long as only you are in control of what it is.

Snowdenwho received asylum in Russia after the U.S. government accused him of espionage for leaking classified documents in 2013then added: If weve learned anything from 2013, its that eventually everything leaks.

If you create an irresistible power, he said. Whether its held by Facebook or an anyone, the question is how do we police the expression of that power when it is used against the public rather than for it?

While Web Summit itself is a massive conference of around 70,000 attendees from around the world focused on technology ranging from modern brand marketing to the future of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, the role of data in an increasingly regulated and uncertain world is a key theme of several talks there. Other speakers this week include Brittany Kaiser, the former business development director for Cambridge Analytica who later became a whistleblower over the British firms data collection practices.

While GDPR continues to play out in the EU, U.S. companies and others continue to prepare for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a state law set to go into effect on January 1. And while Snowden didnt directly address CCPA, he said companies that collect data often say its anonymized and abstract even though thats not always the case.

Data isnt harmless, he said. Data isnt abstract when its about people, and all the data being collected today is about people. It is not data that is being exploited, it is people that are being exploited. It is not data and networks that are being manipulated. It is you that is being manipulated.

According to Snowden, people cant trust companieswhether its a private or public company or a government. That includes telecommunications companies, social networks and hardware manufactures. He explained that communication will continue to be vulnerable until we redesign the basic system of connectivity of the internet."

The law is not the only thing that can protect you, he said. Technology is not the only thing that can protect you. We are the only thing that can protect us. And the only way to protect anyone is to protect everyone.

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Edward Snowden Thinks Even The EUs Sweeping Privacy Law Is Too Weak - Forbes