Edward Snowden free essay sample

Edward Snowden is a twenty-nine year old man who betrayed the U. S. government. He is now in hiding in Hong Kong. Edward revealed the mass collection of government eavesdropping. The government was collecting cell phone data. Not only was the National Security Agency collecting data from U. S. citizens, but they were also collecting data from other people around the world. Edward Snowden gained access to the information through his job with the N. S. A. â€Å"After only three months, Snowden began collecting top-secret documents regarding NSA domestic surveillance practices, which he found disturbing†(Edward Snowden. biography). Edward Snowden is a twenty-nine year old man who betrayed the U. S. government. He is now in hiding in Hong Kong. Edward revealed the mass collection of government eavesdropping. The government was collecting cell phone data. Not only was the National Security Agency collecting data from U. S. citizens, but they were also collecting data from other people around the world. Edward Snowden gained access to the information through his job with the N. S. A. â€Å"After only three months, Snowden began collecting top-secret documents regarding NSA domestic surveillance practices, which he found disturbing†(Edward Snowden. biography). There is a large debate over whether or not this act was heroic or that of a traitor. The answer is clear: Edward Snowden did our country a favor. His acts were a great public service. Snowden went on television and leaked secure information that belonged to the N. S. A. The N. S. A. was collecting this information without probable cause. By collecting this information the United States government went against the Fourth Amendment and an oath taken by the employees of the United States government. The government was spying on phone records and emails of people around the world with full knowledge that what they were doing was wrong. Snowden showed us that the government is not always what people think it is. Many people were so quick to say that Snowden was a traitor. The only thing those people were considering when they made this judgment is what was being said on the television or what was being said by the United States government. The N. S. A was created to track terrorists, not to â€Å"routinely collet the phone logs of tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, of Americans, who have no links to terrorism whatsoever† (Cassidy). It seems clear that the N. S. A. was misusing its power. The government should have been busy tracking terrorists and not spying on the citizens of the world. Do they have more important things to do? Snowden did not tell us anything that we did not already know. â€Å"Anyone who has been paying attention to what’s going on in this country already knew that we are, and have been, under surveillance by our government† (Stamper). Although everyone acted shocked when Snowden leaked the information, people already knew what was going on. Some were still shocked, although they were aware of the goings-on. The only thing Snowden did was validate what the people already knew. A congressman and a senator also knew about what Snowden was doing, but believed he was doing the right thing. It is said that what Snowden did endangered people’s lives. He did not put any lives in danger when he leaked this information. The government kept saying that he was endangering the lives of the people of the world, but they would never actually say how he their lives were put in danger. â€Å"The security agencies, the administration, elected officials, and their corporate partners who are calling Snowden’s persecution fall into the latter category, but not one gives a specific example of how lives were endangered† (Stamper). Many people who agree with Stamper say the government has no actual evidence that Snowden endangered people’s lives. The reason that the government is searching for Snowden is because he embarrassed the government by leaking the N. S. A. ’s confidential information. â€Å"It is clear that the reason Snowden is being hunted is because he has embarrassed the administration and the accompanying oligarchy† (Stamper). By leaking this information, he proved that the government was committing a crime. A question that continuously comes up is which of the parties involved actually committed a crime. Did the N. S. A. commit the real crime or did Edward Snowden commit the crime? The Fourth Amendment states: â€Å"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized† (www. law. cornell. edu). What the N. S. A. was doing to the American people was against the law. The N. S. A.’s actions were not only illegal and a violation of the Fourth Amendment, but also an oath that they were sworn to as government officials. â€Å"Snowden is a young American whose crime is that he dared challenge the excess of state power. Read the Fourth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and tell me that Edward Snowden is not a hero in the mold of those who founded the Republic† (Stamper). In conclusion, Edward Sn owden is a hero in the eyes of most citizens. Snowden brought to light what the government was doing to the people of its country and others around the world. What Snowden did is one of the best things that has happened to the citizens of the U. S. in a long time. The government’s actions were wrong, and Snowden was brave enough to expose them. What the government was doing was not fair, and it was an invasion of privacy according to the Fourth Amendment. â€Å"Snowden did what he did because he recognized the N. S. A. ’s surveillance programs for what they are: dangerous, unconstitutional activity. This wholesale invasion of Americans’ and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we’re trying to protect† (Cassidy).