Snowden defends mega spy blab: ‘Public affairs have to be known by the public’

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Master spy blabbermouth Edward Snowden defended his NSA whistleblowing actions to the Council of Europe today.

He told the human rights' parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg, via video link from Moscow, that he had a "personal duty to country, government and family" to reveal details about snooping methods employed by the US and British governments.

"Public affairs have to be known by the public," Snowden said, in justifying his decision to blow the whistle on the National Security Agency. "When citizens are reduced to the status of subjects, where we're not active participants ... that diminishes us as a free people, as a society and as a culture."

The one-time NSA sysadmin added that he was "willing to pay the price" for leaking that information even if it did damage national security interests.

"I was aware and I did my best to ensure that balance would be enforced," he told the CoE. He claimed that no specific damage and in fact occurred as a result of his actions. It "may have caused some good," he argued.

Snowden explained to the committee during his testimony that he had worked with journalists to help ensure that the information would be responsibly reported.

"That was why I didn't publish it myself. I chose not to, instead I worked with the press," he said.

Snowden added that he had been in the best position, having worked in signals intelligence and electronic spying at the NSA, to understand the material that was leaked to the Guardian and the Washington Post.

"I left behind notes, put them in context, organised them and categorised them [for journalists]," said Snowden.

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Snowden defends mega spy blab: 'Public affairs have to be known by the public'