Supporters of Amnesty International cheer and shoot mobile phone videos as accused government whistleblower Edward Snowden is introduced via teleconference during the Amnesty International Human Rights Conference 2014 in Chicago.

A sympathetic crowd of nearly 1,000 packed a downtown Chicago hotel ballroom at Amnesty International USA's annual human rights meeting and gave Mr Greenwald, who dialed in from Brazil, a raucous welcome before Mr Snowden was patched in 15 minutes later to a standing ovation.

The pair cautioned that government monitoring of "metadata" is more intrusive than directly listening to phone calls or reading emails and stressed the importance of a free press willing to scrutinize government activity.

Metadata includes which telephone number calls which other numbers, when the calls were made and how long they lasted. Metadata does not include the content of the calls.

Amnesty International is campaigning to end mass surveillance by the U.S. government and calling for Congressional action to further rein in the collection of information about telephone calls and other communications.

Last year, Mr Snowden, who had been working at a National Security Agency (NSA) facility as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked a raft of secret documents that revealed a vast U.S. government system for monitoring phone and Internet data.

The leaks deeply embarrassed the Obama administration, which in January banned U.S. eavesdropping on the leaders of friendly countries and allies and began reining in the sweeping collection of Americans' phone data in a series of limited reforms triggered by Mr Snowden's revelations.

Mr Snowden faces arrest if he steps foot on U.S. soil.

President Barack Obama said last month he plans to ask Congress to end the bulk collection and storage of phone records by the NSA but allow the government to access metadata when needed.

Mr Snowden and Mr Greenwald said that such data is in fact more revealing than outright government spying on phone conversations and emails.

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Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald urge caution of wider government monitoring at Amnesty event

American whistleblower Edward Snowden and independent journalist Glenn Greenwald have warned that US spying activities are more intrusive than eavesdropping on phone conversations and reading emails.

Snowden and Greenwald urged caution against more intrusive US spying activities as they spoke via teleconference at a downtown Chicago hotel ballroom at Amnesty International USAs annual human rights meeting on Saturday.

Metadata is what allows an actual enumerated understanding, a precise record of all the private activities in all of our lives. It shows our associations, our political affiliations and our actual activities, said Snowden, speaking from Russia where he was granted temporary asylum last year.

Greenwald, whose reporting of documents leaked by Snowden helped expose the scope and scale of US spying activities, also said, My hope and my belief is that as we do more of that reporting and as people see the scope of the abuse as opposed to just the scope of the surveillance they will start to care more.

Greenwald, who was speaking from Brazil, could face legal action if he returns to the US, with the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper suggesting journalists who helped bring to light US spying programs are Snowdens accomplices.

Documents leaked by Snowden have shown, among other things, how the US National Security Agency collects phone records of all American citizens and tracks the online communications of all people around the world.

His revelations also showed the US government eavesdropped on phone calls of at least 35 world leaders, spied on Russias leadership with the help of Sweden, spied on the 2010 G8 and G20 summits in Toronto as well as the 2009 G20 summit in London with the help of the host countries governments.

Snowden faces espionage charges in the US and even some former US officials (click here and here) have suggested that he should be hanged if convicted of treason.

In January, Greenwald said it is stunning and extremist if the Obama administration now views journalists as accomplices in what it regards as Snowdens crimes.

Amnesty International is campaigning to end mass spying by Washington and is calling on US Congress to take action to rein in the US governments spying programs.

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Snowden, Greenwald: US spying wider

JOPLIN, Mo. Edward Snowden isnt a traitor, said Ray McGovern, former CIA intelligence analyst, during a Friday talk in Webster Halls Corley Auditorium at Missouri Southern State University.

Nor is Snowden a hero, McGovern said, something that most people think is unachievable for themselves.

Hes a patriot, McGovern said. He took his oath seriously. He took the Constitution seriously.

The oath to which McGovern referred, he said was the same one he took when joining the CIA to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Snowden leaked to reporters details about the National Security Agencys bulk data-collection programs and surveillance. He has been granted temporary political asylum in Russia.

They want to shoot the messenger so bad, McGovern said of the Obama administration and others.

McGovern said Snowden had a cushy job with a government contractor, but he was troubled by the NSA data-collection programs, which he saw as a clear violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures without a search warrant established by probable cause of a crime.

McGovern said Snowden, armed with a copy of the Constitution, brought his concerns up with co-workers. They told him to forget about it.

Thats what makes Ed Snowden different, McGovern said. He wouldnt forget about it.

McGovern said Snowden was motivated to contact reporters by National Intelligence Director James Clappers statement to a congressional committee when asked if the NSA was collecting any type of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.

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Former CIA analyst praises Edward Snowden