EDWARD SNOWDEN, THE NSA,

AND MASS SURVEILLANCE

Edward Snowden worked as a computer systems contractor
for the National Security Agency (NSA), which collects in-
telligence information for U.S. spy agencies. In 2013, Snow-
den gave journalists thousands of secret NSA documents.
They revealed mass surveillance of terrorist suspects and
of innocent Americans as well.

The Wikileaks Channel/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Created in 1952, the NSA monitors, collects, and an-
alyzes foreign spy information, or “intelligence” on sus-
pected enemies of the United States. Those who work
for the NSA must have a security clearance and prom-
ise never to reveal the NSA’s secrets.
To correct certain abuses by the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) in the 1960s and 70s, Congress passed the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).
FISA set up monitoring of the NSA, CIA, and other in-
telligence agencies so that they would target foreign
threats, not American citizens.
The FISA law also established a secret Foreign In-
telligence Surveillance Court to which intelligence Edward Snowden in Moscow, Russia, October 2013.

agencies could seek permission to conduct surveil- Later, at the same Hawaii facility, he persuaded co-
lance and collect information from foreign suspects. workers to let him borrow their passwords and without
The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court appoints their knowledge copied secret NSA documents onto lap-
the FISA Court’s 11 judges. A special court can review top hard drives. Snowden believed the U.S. was violat-
the FISA Court’s decisions. ing the privacy rights of American citizens as well as
In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that law- international law.
enforcement agencies did not need a search warrant In December 2012, Snowden anonymously con-
to get the phone numbers called by criminal suspects. tacted a few journalists and passed on to them samples
The Supreme Court ruled that phone callers had “no of secret NSA documents. In May 2013, Snowden met
reasonable expectation of privacy” in numbers dialed his contacts in Hong Kong, where he identified himself
into a telephone. Today, phone numbers, dates, and for the first time and handed them the thousands of
the duration of phone calls are called “metadata” and NSA documents he had copied.
do not include the actual content of conversations. On June 5, The Guardian newspaper in London pub-
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, lished the first of numerous articles and documents that
2001, the NSA and other intelligence agencies shifted revealed many secret mass surveillance programs. Soon
from investigation of criminal suspects to prevention of American newspapers, such as the New York Times,
terrorist attacks and were desperate to improve their use began to publish material from the “Snowden leaks.”
of technology. Within days of 9/11, Congress passed the Snowden, now age 29, planned to seek political asy-
USA PATRIOT Act (Patriot Act), which greatly increased lum in South America. But the U.S. had suspended his
the NSA’s surveillance powers. passport so he could not fly any further than Russia,
which granted him temporary asylum and later ex-
Who Is Edward Snowden? tended it to three years.
Between 2006 and 2012, Edward Snowden, a young
At the Moscow airport, Snowden made his first state-
high school dropout and computer whiz, worked for the
ment to the world’s press about what motivated him:
CIA as well as major tech contractors for the NSA. He
I did what I believed right and began a campaign to
maintained computer systems and received security clear-
correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich my-
ance which gave him access to secret documents. He says
self. I did not seek to sell U.S. secrets. I did not part-
that while working at a secret NSA facility in Hawaii, he
ner with any foreign government to guarantee my
first complained to supervisors about the NSA’s “illegal
safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so
activities,” but that they ignored his complaint.
what affects all of us can be discussed. . . .

10 CURRENT EVENT BRIA 31:3 (Spring 2016)

(c) Constitutional Rights Foundation www.crf-usa.org

What Did Snowden Reveal? commercial websites, health and financial records, pub-
The public learned from Snowden’s leaks that be- licly posted social media, GPS location of individuals,
tween 2001 and 2006, President George W. Bush secretly and Google Map searches. FISA Court orders or Fourth
authorized the NSA to collect the phone metadata of vir- Amendment search warrants were sometimes needed,
tually all Americans, or “bulk collection” of metadata. sometimes not.
The idea was to amass a government database that the Snowden also revealed that the NSA spied on
NSA could search by linking the phone number of a sus- friendly nations. The NSA listened in on the phone calls
pected foreign terrorist to other numbers in a chain of of some of America’s allies, which caused an angry re-
phone calls to help NSA agents identify a potential ter- action abroad, embarrassing the U.S. government.
rorist network. They were unable to do this before 9/11. Reaction to Snowden’s Leaks
The NSA said it destroyed any metadata collected of in- Snowden’s stunning leaks caused many people to
nocent Americans. criticize the previously secret NSA surveillance pro-
The public also learned that in 2006 President Bush grams, which only a few in the government knew ex-
handed over the job of the bulk collection of metadata to isted. Many were outraged over what they saw as
the secret FISA Court. The FISA Court had to have legal violations of the Fourth Amendment. Internet service
authority to do this and found it in Section 215 of the Pa- companies protested how they were being used by the
triot Act, which authorized the FBI to apply for FISA Court NSA to scoop up data on their customers.
orders on behalf of the NSA to produce “tangible things” Snowden’s revelations forced the government to de-
relevant to an approved foreign intelligence investigation. fend its surveillance programs. Defenders assured Amer-
The FISA Court interpreted producing icans everything was legal and approved
“tangible things” to mean a blanket court
order for bulk collection of metadata rather
Snowden’s stunning by Congress, the president, and the FISA
Court. No evidence has turned up that the
than issuing individual search warrants leaks caused many NSA intentionally invaded the privacy of
typically required under the Fourth Amend- innocent U.S. citizens. But neither has ev-
ment. The FISA Court also relied on the rul- people to criticize the idence revealed that the bulk collection
ing of the 1979 Supreme Court that people program stopped any terrorist attack
had no reasonable expectation of privacy in previously secret
against the United States.
phone numbers called.
After his election, President Obama
NSA surveillance Snowden, remaining in Russia, was
celebrated as a hero by his many support-
continued the NSA’s bulk collection pro- programs . . . . ers and condemned by those who called
gram. The FISA Court has rarely turned him a criminal. President Obama ex-
down an intelligence agency application for pressed concern about leaks of secrets: “If any individ-
a surveillance order or search warrant. One reason may ual who objects to government policy can take it in their
be that only the government was permitted to make its own hands to publicly disclose information, then we
case before a FISA Court judge. No opposing side was al- will not be able to keep our people safe. . . .”
lowed to challenge an application for a surveillance order. The U.S. Justice Department quickly charged Snow-
Snowden also gave to The Guardian a copy of the se- den with stealing government property and two viola-
cret FISA Court order of May 24, 2013, that directed Ver- tions of the Espionage Act.
izon to give the NSA metadata of all its customers. The
revelation set off a firestorm of protest. Damage From Snowden’s Disclosures
In addition, Snowden unveiled NSA’s PRISM pro- While most of the immediate controversy over
gram, which collected the content of emails, photos, and Snowden’s massive leaks of secret NSA documents fo-
other media from the servers of nine Internet service cused on privacy violation claims, another issue arose
companies (Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, AOL, Face- about how his leaks damaged national security. Michael
book, YouTube, Skype, and Paltalk). This surveillance Hayden, a former director of the NSA and CIA, warned
program was limited to individuals “sharing content” that the Snowden leaks will let terrorists know about
with a terrorist suspect “reasonably believed to be lo- U.S. intelligence “tactics, techniques, and procedures.”
cated outside the United States.” PRISM surveillance re- Director of Intelligence James Clapper reported
quired approval of the FISA Court but not of the Internet that showing our adversaries the NSA’s programs dam-
service companies. aged America’s ability to prevent another 9/11. “This
Snowden’s documents showed that the NSA col- is the most destructive [bleeding] of American secrets
lected other data in its search for terrorists outside and in history,” he declared, “and very few of them had
inside the U.S., including Internet usage, transactions at anything to do with American privacy.”

BRIA 31:3 (Spring 2016) CURRENT EVENT 11

(c) Constitutional Rights Foundation www.crf-usa.org

 The Snowden leaks also
revealed information about the
spying methods of U.S. allies.
Britain’s Home Secretary, Theresa
May, argued that Snowden’s leaks
caused intelligence damage around
the world. For example, “safe
houses” used by British spies had
been identified, putting them at
risk. She added that the Islamic

National Security Agency

State had even made a video with
tips drawn from the Snowden
leaks on how to avoid detection.
In December 2013, the Depart-
ment of Defense (Pentagon) com-
pleted a top secret report on the
impact of the leaks. The Pentagon The National Security Operations Center (NSOC) floor in 2012. NSOC is part of the NSA and
declassified 12 pages for release to maintains constant monitoring of intelligence information.
the public in May 2014, but most of
the text was blocked out of caution that details might give On June 2, 2015, Congress passed the USA FREEDOM
sensitive information to terrorists. Act (Freedom Act), a compromise that President Obama
The censored report stated that the Pentagon as- promptly signed into law that included key reforms.
sessed that the Snowden leaks will have “a grave impact Under the new law, the NSA could no longer collect meta-
on U.S. national defense.” The report concluded: “The data but could gain access to the records stored by tele-
scope of the compromised knowledge related to U.S. in- phone companies through a FISA Court order if it could
telligence capabilities is staggering.” show it had a “reasonable articulable suspicion” that cer-
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee tain metadata was linked to terrorism. Phone companies
Chairman Mike Rogers read the complete uncensored would destroy metadata after 18 months. Advocates with
Pentagon report. He said, “The report confirms my security clearance could raise issues of privacy or civil lib-
greatest fears — Snowden’s real acts of betrayal place erties before the FISA Court, and significant rulings of the
America’s military men and women at greater risk.” FISA Court must be made public.
Others point out that the public and the press have
Snowden: Criminal or Hero?
not been provided details about the damage from Snow-
Snowden and his supporters call him a “whistle-
den’s disclosures. It is hard to assess, they say, whether
blower.” This is usually a government employee who
the disclosures actually caused any damage at all.
makes public some sort of government wrongdoing.
Britain’s Business Secretary Vince Cable said that even
Laws protect whistle-blowers with access to secret in-
though a “large amount of genuinely important intelli-
formation from criminal prosecution. These laws, how-
gence material” was disclosed, the disclosures emphasize
ever, require whistle-blowers to report their concerns to
a need for “proper political oversight of intelligence serv-
the intelligence agencies’ inspector general or to mem-
ices.” NSA Director Admiral Michael S. Rogers also down-
bers of the intelligence committees of Congress. Snow-
played the damage caused by Snowden, saying in 2014
den did not do this.
that he did not believe “the sky is falling.” He wanted the
Snowden said he believed he was not protected as
NSA to get “out of the data-retention business” altogether.
a whistle-blower because he was a contractor for a pri-
The USA FREEDOM Act vate company, not a government employee. The law is
In January 2014, after considering reforms made by not clear how much protection Snowden would have
his own study commission, President Obama proposed had if he had followed the correct procedure.
that Congress keep the bulk collection metadata pro- Snowden succeeded in provoking a major debate
gram, but put possession of its huge database in the over America’s mass surveillance programs. Did the
hands of a non-government party like the telephone NSA endanger the right to privacy, or was it just doing
companies. Congress debated these and other issues its job to keep Americans safe? The compromise Free-
raised by Snowden’s disclosures. Some members of dom Act seemed to answer yes to both questions. But
Congress wanted to keep the metadata program as it what should we do about Snowden, who started the
was. Others called for it to be eliminated. whole controversy? Is he a criminal or a hero?

12 CURRENT EVENT BRIA 31:3 (Spring 2016)

(c) Constitutional Rights Foundation www.crf-usa.org

DISCUSSION AND WRITING 3. Reflect on your answer to Question #2 above. Are
1. Did the NSA endanger the right of privacy, or was it there limits to how far a democratic state can go in
just doing its job to keep Americans safe? Use evi- collecting information about its citizens before the
dence from the article to support your answer. collection becomes too invasive into citizens’ rea-
2. David Frum, senior editor of The Atlantic magazine, sonable expectations of privacy? If so, what are
wrote a year after the Snowden leaks: “We live in a those limits?
world of predators. A democratic state too gentle- 4. Do you think the Freedom Act went too far, not far
manly to learn all it can about potential threats is a enough, or was about right in controlling the NSA
state that has betrayed its most-fundamental re- and its mass surveillance programs? Use evidence
sponsibilities to the people it exists to safeguard.” from the article to support your answer.
Put Frum’s argument in your own words. Do you
agree or disagree with him? Why?
ACTIVITY: Snowden: Criminal or Hero?
Edward Snowden says he wants to return to the U.S. If he ever returns, he will undoubtedly have to face the
consequences of his actions. Below are a number of alternative consequences that some have suggested.
Which one of these do you think is the best?
1. Each student will choose one of the consequences for Snowden’s actions and write a brief essay, defending it by
using information provided in the article.
2. Students will then meet in small groups to argue for their choices.
3. The groups will report the results of their discussions to the class.
4. Finally, the class will vote on which consequence is the best.
Consequences for Snowden’s Actions
A. Prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department D. Clemency
The Justice Department has charged Snowden with steal- Clemency calls for leniency such as a reduction of a prison
ing government property and two counts of violating the term. In an editorial, the New York Times wrote, “It is time
Espionage Act: (1) “unauthorized communication of na- for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain
tional defense information” and (2) “willful communi- or some form of clemency that would allow him to return
cation of classified communication intelligence home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in
information to an unauthorized person.” The combined light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of
penalties for these acts amount to 30 years in prison. a life advocating for greater privacy and a far stronger over-
sight of the runaway intelligence community.”
B. Prosecution for Treason
In 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry declared, “He is E. A Partial Pardon
a traitor. And he has betrayed his country. And if he Conor Friedersdorf, writing in The Atlantic, argued,
wants to come home to face the music, he can do so.” “Snowden undeniably violated his promise to keep the
Art. III, Sec. 3, of the Constitution defines treason: NSA’s secrets. But doing so was the only way to fulfill
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in his higher obligation to protect and defend the Consti-
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Ene- tution, which was being violated by an executive
mies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” Conviction for branch exceeding its rightful authority. . . . This analy-
treason carries the possibility of the death penalty. sis pertains only to the leaked documents that exposed
the phone [bulk metadata] dragnet, not the whole trove
C. A Strong But Not Too Harsh Prison Sentence [collection] of Snowden’s leaks, but with respect to that
Josh Barro, writing for Business Insider, took a middle one set of documents there ought to be unanimous sup-
position: “If Snowden’s disclosures had been tightly lim- port for pardoning his disclosure.
ited to information about how U.S. intelligence agencies
F. A Full Pardon
collect private information about Americans, I’d be more
The White House has a program for submitting petitions
sympathetic to calls to let him off. And I still don’t think
to the government. The following petition was submitted
he needs to be executed or imprisoned for life; a long
days after the Snowden leaks appeared in the press: “Ed-
sentence signifying the severity of his crimes, perhaps
ward Snowden is a national hero and should be immedi-
15 years, would satisfy me. . . . The sentence. . . has to
ately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes
be long enough to deter future Snowdens from leaking.”
he has committed or may have committed related to blow-
ing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs.”

BRIA 31:3 (Spring 2016) CURRENT EVENT 13

(c) Constitutional Rights Foundation www.crf-usa.org

Standards Addressed Common Core State Standards
The Election of 1912 Standards marked “11-12” pertain to “The Election of 1912” and “Edward
National High School U.S. History Standard 20: Understands how Pro- Snowden, the NSA, and Mass Surveillance.” Standards marked “9-10”
gressives and others addressed problems of industrial capitalism, urban- pertain to “The Great Rivalry: Disraeli vs. Gladstone.”
ization, and political corruption. (1) Understands the origins and impact ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12/9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of
of the Progressive movement (e.g., social origins of Progressives and how collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with di-
these contributed to the success and failure of the movement; Progressive verse partners on grades 11-12/9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on oth-
reforms pertaining to big business, and worker’s and consumer’s rights; ers’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
arguments of Progressive leaders). ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1.d: Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, sum-
California H-SS Standard 11.2: Students analyze the relationship marize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify
among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migra- or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in
tion, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. (9) light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
Understand the effect of political programs and activities of the Progres- ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1.d: Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; syn-
sives (e.g., federal regulation of railroad transport, Children’s Bureau, the thesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve
Sixteenth Amendment, Theodore Roosevelt . . . .) contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or re-
search is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
Edward Snowden, the NSA, and Mass Surveillance ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and
National High School Civics Standard 18: Understands the role and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among
importance of law in the American constitutional system and issues ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
regarding the judicial protection of individual rights. (1) Understands ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks,
how the rule of law makes possible a system of ordered liberty that pro- demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
tects the basic rights of citizens. (5) Understands how the individual’s (See grades 9-10 Language standards 1 and 3 . . . for specific expectations.)
rights to life, liberty, and property are protected by the trial and appellate ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks,
levels of the judicial process and by the principal varieties of law (e.g., demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
constitutional, criminal, and civil law). (See grades 11-12 Language standards 1 and 3 . . . for specific expectations.)
National High School Civics Standard 25: Understands issues regard- ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of . . . sec-
ing personal, political, and economic rights. (1) Understands the im- ondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
portance to individuals and to society of personal rights such as freedom ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a . . .
of thought and conscience, privacy and personal autonomy, and the right secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas
to due process of law and equal protection of the law. (2) Understands develop over the course of the text.
contemporary issues that involve political rights such as access to clas- ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
sified information . . . . (6) Understands how personal, political, and eco- they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or
nomic rights are secured by constitutional government and by such economic aspects of history/social science.
means as the rule of law, checks and balances, an independent judiciary, ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.10: By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend his-
and a vigilant citizenry tory/social studies texts in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently
National High School Civics Standard 26: Understands issues regard- and proficiently.
ing the proper scope and limits of rights and the relationships among ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis
personal, political, and economic rights. (2) Understands different po- of . . . secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to
sitions on a contemporary conflict between rights such as one person’s an understanding of the text as a whole.
right to free speech versus another person’s right to be heard. ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a pri-
California H-SS Standard 12.2: Students evaluate and take and defend mary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear
positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as demo- the relationships among the key details and ideas.
cratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are se- ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
cured. (1) Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines
guaranteed under the Billof Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison de-
of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy). (3) Discuss the fines faction in Federalist No. 10).
individual’s legal obligations to obey the law . . . . ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.10: By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend his-
tory/social studies texts in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band inde-
The Great Rivalry: Disraeli vs. Gladstone pendently and proficiently.
National High School World History Standard 35: Understands patterns of ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12/9-10.1: Write arguments focused on discipline-spe-
nationalism, state-building, and social reform in Europe and the Ameri- cific content.
cas from 1830 to 1914. (3) Understands factors that led to social and politi- ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12/9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, in-
cal change in 19th-century Europe (e.g., the interconnections between labor cluding the narration of historical events . . . .
movements, various forms of socialism, and political or social changes in Eu- ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12/9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in
rope; the influence of industrialization, democratization, and nationalism on which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, pur-
popular 19th-century reform movements; the extent to which Britain . . . [be- pose, and audience.
came] broadly liberal and democratic societies in the 19th century; the broad ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12/9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained
beneficial and detrimental effects of the industrial revolution on specific Eu- research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question)
ropean countries). or solve a problem . . . .
California H-SS Standard 10.3: Students analyze the effects of the Indus- ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12/9-10.10: Write routinely over extended time frames
trial Revolution in England, France, Germany, Japan, and the United (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day
States. (1) Analyze why England was the first country to industrialize. or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
California H-SS Standard 12.9: Students analyze the origins, characteristics,
Standards reprinted with permission:
and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis
National Standards © 2000 McREL, Mid-continent Research for Education and
on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. (2) Com-
Learning, 2550 S. Parker Road, Ste. 500, Aurora, CO 80014, (303)337.0990.
pare the various ways in which power is distributed, shared, and limited in sys-
California Standards copyrighted by the California Dept. of Education, P.O.
tems of shared powers and in parliamentary systems, including the influence
Box 271, Sacramento, CA 95812.
and role of parliamentary leaders (e.g., William Gladstone . . . .)
Common Core State Standards used under public license. © Copyright 2010.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of
Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

14
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