Terabyte Leaks and Political Legitimacy in the U.S. and China

The leaking of information is a time-honored tactic to undermine the legitimacy of a political opponent or a policy. Sir Winston Churchill relied on it during the run-up to World War II to attack what he saw as weak British responses to German rearmament.

Ever the master of using information and disinformation, he would use question time in the parliament to reveal morsels of secret information. As part of an embarrassment strategy, these were drawn from UK intelligence assessments of Germanys military build-up and from UK policy planning documents.

At another level, the sustained control of information has always been viewed as central to political power. The totalitarian governments of the 20th century were among the best practitioners. The term propaganda came to symbolize this technique of political control of information.

In such a governance frame, the idea of a strategic leak has always been one of a slow trickle of pieces of information. Meanwhile, the event itself or the process in question was unlikely to undermine the power of a determined state propaganda machine.

But now the old style of a steady flow of bit-by-bit leaks may be passing into history. Welcome to the brave new world of avalanche-like leaks, where the unauthorized release of secrets has moved from a trickle to a virtual flood.

And now, that flood has even biblical proportions. Wikileaks has been a manifestation of the changing times. All that is required is having a suitable platform to release those occasional floods of secret information.

In publishing 251,287 diplomatic cables from the U.S. government, the Wikileaks website provided a sustained embarrassment to the United States.

While there were temporary setbacks, the leaks did not shake the government to its core or bring about the end of any political career. The total file size of the entire package of leaked cables was less than two gigabytes (2 billion bytes).

But Wikileaks is passing into history. By comparison, on some estimates, Edward Snowden took from the NSA 2,000 times as much information (4 terabytes, or 8 trillion bytes).

This did shake the United States government to the core. It did so not because Snowden revealed unusual activities that were not previously contemplated. The surprise lay in the scale of activity for which the U.S. government was fingered. That stunned people around the globe, foreigners first and, remarkably, American citizens later.

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Terabyte Leaks and Political Legitimacy in the U.S. and China

On Edward Snowden, Privacy, NSA, and Accountability – Quick Thought #632 – Video


On Edward Snowden, Privacy, NSA, and Accountability - Quick Thought #632
Edward Snowden. A lot of emotions tied to that name. Whether you believe in what he did or not, you can #39;t help but admire one of the effects of the whistlebl...

By: J Lipovetsky

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On Edward Snowden, Privacy, NSA, and Accountability - Quick Thought #632 - Video

Edward Snowden: ‘Not Possible’ to Return to U.S. Now

Jan 23, 2014 4:37pm

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor that exposed the agencys most closely held secrets, said today that while returning to the U.S. would be the best resolution for everyone, its not possible now because he does not believe he can get a fair trial.

Charged in the U.S. with espionage-related crimes and living quietly in Russia, Snowden answered Twitter questions today in an online Q&A. When CNNs Jake Tapper asked under what conditions Snowden would return to the U.S., the 30-year-old said the nearly 100-year-old Espionage Act, under which he is charged, forbids a public interest defense.

This is especially frustrating, because it means theres no chance to have a fair trial, and no way I can come home and make my case to a jury, he said.

RELATED: Edward Snowden Denies Stealing NSA Co-Workers Passwords

In a Wall Street Journal Op Ed Tuesday, attorney Jesselyn Radack, who has represented government whistleblowers in the past and has had contact with Snowden, argued similarly that its a fantasy to think Snowden would be able to mount a solid defense in a fair trial due to Espionage Act-related government restrictions.

Earlier today U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that if Snowden wanted to return to the U.S. and enter a guilty plea, the Justice Department would engage with his lawyers.

Of course if Mr. Snowdens lawyers informed us their client was prepared to take accountability by pleading guilty to the charges filed against him, we would engage with his lawyers on that, as we would with any other defendant, a Department of Justice spokesperson echoed later.

Last June Holder wrote a letter to his Russian counterpart in which he promised the U.S. would not torture or execute Snowden an attempt to refute the grounds upon which Snowden originally made his asylum plea. At the time, Holder said that should Snowden return, he would be provided all the protections the law allows.

Todays Q&A was the second conducted by Snowden since he revealed himself to be the source in a seemingly never-ending stream of reports about the NSAs vast foreign and domestic espionage operations. Snowden is currently living in Russia under temporary asylum, having fled his contractor job at the NSA in Hawaii first for Hong Kong and then for Moscow.

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Edward Snowden: 'Not Possible' to Return to U.S. Now

Edward Snowden’s Asylum in Russia Extended

Russia announced it would extend asylum to former NSA analyst Edward Snowden beyond the original year they had promised.

Russia announced Friday it would extend asylum to Edward Snowden beyond the original year they granted him back in June 2013.

Russia's Foreign Affairs Committee head Alexy Pushkov made the announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, CNN reported. He said that they would not send Snowden back to the United States after his original year of asylum ends in June.

This is good news for the former analyst that worked for a contractor under the National Security Agency until he leaked secrets about questionable U.S. intelligence gathering methods. Snowden has become one of America's most wanted and there doesn't seem to be a possibility for him to receive the whistle-blower protection he says he deserves.

[READ: Pentagon Report Says Snowden NSA Leaks Risk Lives]

In an online chat Thursday Snowden said that while he hoped to return home to the U.S. someday, he would be unwilling to do so until whistle-blower protection laws were reformed to cover him.

"There are so many holes in the laws, the protections they afford are so weak, and the processes for reporting they provide are so ineffective that they appear to be intended to discourage reporting of even the clearest wrongdoing," he wrote.

Snowden indicated that his return to the U.S. "is the best resolution for all parties," but "it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistle-blower protection laws."

[ALSO: Edward Snowden: Missions Already Accomplished]

Snowden has been charged with espionage and theft of government property but said that due to certain laws he would not be allowed to contend that he was acting in the public interest by revealing the U.S. surveillance programs, United Press International reports.

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Edward Snowden's Asylum in Russia Extended

Edward Snowden Denies ‘Stealing’ NSA Co-Workers’ Passwords

Jan 23, 2014 4:00pm

National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden today denied stealing or tricking his co-workers into giving up their passwords and log-in information so that he could make off with a trove of secret documents from the secretive agency.

Snowden made the denial during an online Q&A today and referenced a Reuters report from November that alleged Snowden had used log-in credentials and passwords provided unwittingly by colleagues at a spy base in Hawaii to access some of the classified material he leaked to the media.

Citing an unidentified source, the Reuters report said that Snowden may have persuaded between 20 and 25 fellow workers at the NSA regional operations center in Hawaii to give him their login and passwords by telling them they were needed for him to do his job as a computer systems administrator. The Reuters report did not directly accuse Snowden of stealing.

With all due respect to [Reuters reporter] Mark Hosenball, the Reuters report that put this out there was simply wrong, Snowden said today.

RELATED: Not Possible to Return to U.S. Now, Snowden Says

Todays Q&A is the second conducted by Snowden since he revealed himself to be the source in a seemingly never-ending stream of reports about the NSAs vast foreign and domestic espionage operations.

Snowden is currently living in Russia under temporary asylum, having fled his contractor job at the NSA in Hawaii first for Hong Kong and then for Moscow. He has been charged in the U.S. with a series of espionage-related crimes.

FULL COVERAGE: Edward Snowden

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Edward Snowden Denies 'Stealing' NSA Co-Workers' Passwords

Snowden Says Whistle-Blower Law Gaps Preclude His Return

Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who exposed secret intelligence programs, said he wont return to the U.S. because of gaps in federal whistle-blower laws that he said would leave him unprotected.

Snowden, who fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia after leaking classified documents on the governments Internet and telephone data spy programs, said Congress needs to broaden the Whistleblower Protection Act so that national security contractors can more easily fight for changes from within the intelligence system.

Returning to the U.S., I think, is the best resolution for the government, the public, and myself, but its unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistle-blower protection laws, Snowden wrote today in an Internet question-and-answer session.

While the authenticity of Snowdens identity couldnt be independently verified, two advocates who have advised Snowden - - Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project and Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union -- said by e-mail they could confirm Snowdens participation.

The session was conducted by the Courage Foundation, which describes itself as a trust formed to help defend journalistic sources such as Snowden, who gave classified National Security Agency documents to media organizations including the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post.

It marked at least the second time that Snowden has used an Internet chat to communicate with the public about his efforts to change U.S. surveillance laws. A similar session was conducted in June on the Guardians website.

Some members of Congress, including House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, have called Snowden a traitor for disclosing intelligence programs meant to prevent terrorism.

Snowden today defended his actions as an act of civil disobedience and said hes aware of threats that have been made against his life.

Im not going to be intimidated, he said. Doing the right thing means having no regrets.

Snowden spoke the same day that a U.S. privacy-policy board issued a 238-page report urging the abolition of the bulk collection of Americans phone records. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, created by lawmakers under post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism laws, said the program has provided only minimal help in thwarting terrorist attacks.

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Snowden Says Whistle-Blower Law Gaps Preclude His Return

Russian lawmaker says Snowden asylum period to be extended

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. secrets leaker Edward Snowden won't be pressured to leave Russia any time soon, a major Russian lawmaker said Friday.

The comment by parliamentarian Alexy Pushkov comes after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Snowden would not get clemency if he came home, CNN reported.

Pushkov, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Russia's lower house, the Duma, said Snowden's year-old asylum would be extended and he wouldn't be sent back to the United States.

The legislator made his remarks during the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.

Holder said Thursday Snowden, who leaked secrets about U.S. and British intelligence gathering he collected while a contractor for the National Security Agency, could come home in a plea deal.

But clemency is out of the question, Holder said.

"We've always indicated ... that the notion of clemency isn't something that we were willing to consider," Holder said at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs.

"Instead, were he to come back to the United States to enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers," he said.

"We'd do that with any defendant who wanted to enter a plea of guilty," Holder told the university's non-partisan research institute.

Holder did not indicate if he was open to engaging in negotiations with Snowden while he remained in Russia, beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement.

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Russian lawmaker says Snowden asylum period to be extended