Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden is a former U.S. intelligence contractor who disclosed classified documents in 2013, revealing extensive government surveillance programs and prompting global debate over privacy and security.

Global surveillance disclosures (2013): A series of 2013 news reports based on classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden. These reports carried the documents into public view and exposed surveillance programs worldwide.
PRISM (surveillance program): An NSA program that collected communications from U.S. technology companies under legal authority established by the FISA Amendments Act. Snowden’s materials described this program and its collection of foreign-intelligence communications.
Dell SecureWorks: A cybersecurity company where Edward Snowden worked before joining the CIA and later returning as an NSA contractor. Snowden’s early technical work formed part of the career that led to intelligence contracting.
Whistleblower: A person who exposes information about wrongdoing or danger within an organization, often at personal risk. Supporters describe Snowden as exposing unlawful or excessive surveillance in the public interest.
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution: A constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures and sets conditions for warrants. The disclosures renewed disputes over whether mass data collection counts as an unreasonable search.
USA FREEDOM Act: A 2015 U.S. law that ended bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The disclosures helped spur legislation that curtailed one revealed collection program.
Upstream collection: NSA collection of internet communications as they pass through telecommunications infrastructure. The documents showed a collection method distinct from obtaining data from service providers.
Central Intelligence Agency: A U.S. civilian intelligence agency that collects and analyzes foreign intelligence. Snowden worked as a CIA employee before his later NSA-related contracting roles.
Espionage Act of 1917: A U.S. federal law criminalizing specified conduct involving national-defense information and aiding foreign powers. Federal charges against Snowden invoked this law, which offers no public-interest defense.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: A 1978 U.S. law establishing procedures for surveillance conducted for foreign-intelligence purposes. The legality of programs Snowden disclosed depended partly on contested interpretations of this law.

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