NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden surfaced in Hong Kong today where he gave an interview to a local paper.
“I’m neither a traitor nor hero. I’m an American”
The South China Morning Post reported:
Surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden has spoken for the first time since blowing his own cover in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.
The ex-CIA analyst has been holed up in secret locations in Hong Kong since fleeing Hawaii ahead of highly sensitive leaks revealing details of US top-secret phone and internet surveillance of its citizens.
Snowden’s actions have been both praised and condemned globally.
But he told Post reporter Lana Lam: “I’m neither traitor nor hero. I’m an American.”
Today, he reveals:
** more explosive details on US surveillance targets
** his plans for the immediate future
** the steps he claims the US has taken since he broke cover in Hong Kong
** his fears for his familyThe 29-year-old was working for defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton at the National Security Agency (NSA), the biggest spy surveillance organisation in the world, when he leaked information claiming the US was systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data. Snowden fled to Hong Kong after using Britain’s Guardian newspaper to expose the agency’s PRISM program which gives officials easy access to data held by nine of the world’s top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Skype.
He vowed to fight any extradition attempt by the US government.
