Steve Hofstetter looks like Edward Snowden
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By: Steve Hofstetter

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Steve Hofstetter looks like Edward Snowden - Video

In the nearly two years since Edward Snowden leaked secrets about U.S. government online surveillance, about a third of U.S. adults have taken steps to guard their Internet behavior more closely, according to a new survey.

But few have adopted the strongest measures to protect their privacy.

ThePew Research Center survey found that 87% of U.S. adults queried had heard about the Snowden leaks, and 34% of them subsequently took at least one action to shield their privacy.

Some adjusted social media settings or put off social media altogether. Apps and search engines have been avoided. Others have tried to talk in person instead of through chat apps or the phone.

The biggest change noted was with passwords 25% have adopted stronger ones. Email was also a big pivot point, with 18% of adults aware of the U.S. surveillance efforts saying they have changed their email usage at least somewhat.

Those U.S. citizens most concerned about surveillance were the most likely to change behavior, which might seem obvious. Still, no more than 10% of those aware of U.S. surveillance turned to powerful measures such as do-not-track, encryption and anonymity software. Tools like Tor, PGP and proxy servers can add to privacy and security, but often are cumbersome to install and use.

While 54% of those surveyed said it is OK for the government to monitor communications of foreign citizens, just 40% said it was acceptable for the government to track communications of U.S. citizens.

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Snowden leaks lead Americans to scale back online activity, survey finds

'I think it's more likely than not, actually, that the technical side of the argument will win.' - Snowden speaking at this week's FutureFest

Edward Snowden was received with raputuous applause after emphasising to UK conference delegates this weekend the importance of encryption as a weapon in the privacy war. In a powerful speech, he reminded people that we are not powerless to let governments sleepwalk us in to a mass surveillance world, because we have the technological tools at our disposal to do something about it.

The NSA whistleblower, who appeared through a live video link from Moscow at innovation charity Nesta's FutureFest event on Saturday, described the relationship between governments and citizens as a 'broken marriage'.

> See also: Do you know more about cyber security than David Cameron? Take the quiz

When asked how those in power can rebuild trust, he said it had to be a collective effort of the media, civil society, tech companies and everybody to demand accountability of those creating surveillance systems without the involvement of citizens.

Snowden added that governments are decieving us by saying that their interception of citizen data is for our own good- 'These programmes are not public safety programmes, they're spying programmes.'

'The question that we as a society have to ask,' added Snowden, 'is are our collective rights worth a small advantage in our ability to spy.'

Governments are afraid of us finding out about these abilities through classified slides like the ones he leaked back in 2013, 'not because it would cause security concerns they don't want us to know what they're doing because it would cause a damaging public debate,' said Snowden.

'The government doesn't want us to know how they are interpreting the law and redefining powers, and how they're redefining the boundaries of our rights and liberties, morally, socially... without our involvement.'

But on a positive note, Snowden described mass surveillance 'one of the few places in the global political debate where we have a choice' - thanks to end-to-end encryption.

Originally posted here:
Edward Snowden: encryption is the key to reclaiming our digital freedom