The long journey of the man who revealed details about major espionage operations, after which he undertook an international escape.
New technologies have opened up an unprecedented world for modern espionage. States have at their disposal abundant information on the Internet about the private life of citizens, and many have not hesitated to use their power to obtain it. The leaks of Edward Snowden, the computer analyst who uncovered a giant US-sponsored electronic surveillance program.
This has highlighted the extent to which personal communications are vulnerable to the perverse use of technology. “These revelations have made us increasingly aware of the power that governments have to control us,” explains Laura Poitras, the journalist chosen by Snowden in 2013 to entrust him with his secrets.
The computer scientist, who was then 29 years old, had taken files with more than a million secret documents from the US National Security Agency (NSA) from his office, where he had worked until he took a plane in May 2013 heading to Hong Kong without even her partner knowing. “When I first saw him, I was amazed at how young he was, how articulate his speech was, and how calm he was even though he knew he was taking a huge risk, not only for himself, but also for his family,” recalls Poitras.
Chronology of the ‘Snowden case’ until today
– **2006.** Edward Snowden is hired by the CIA, gaining access to top secret confidential information.
– **2007 – 2009.** Edward Snowden is sent to Geneva (Switzerland) as a CIA cybersecurity expert. During this period, he later told The Guardian, he began to feel disillusioned with how his government controlled information from the rest of the world.
-** End of 2009-March 2012. ** Edward Snowden’s supervisor sends a negative report about his behavior and work habits. In that report, Snowden’s supervisor claims that he attempted to access classified files to which he was not authorized. Soon after, Snowden leaves the CIA and begins working for the NSA in Hawaii.
– **December 2012 – January 2013.** Snowden contacts people like Glenn Greenwald, lawyer and columnist for The Guardian newspaper.
– **May 2013.** Snowden begins sending documents to journalists from The Guardian and the Washington Post. At the end of the same month, Edward Snowden travels to Hong Kong, where the previously contacted journalists will later travel.
– **June 5, 2013.** The first documents provided by Edward Snowden are published in The Guardian newspaper. The headline is classifying: “NSA collects phone call records of millions of Verizon consumers.”
– **June 6, 2013.** The Guardian and the Washington Post publish an article about PRISM, the NSA program that forces large companies in the technology sector to hand over their users’ data to the authorities of the United States United by back doors.
– **June 11, 2013.** The Guardian newspaper publishes slides showing the level of data collection by the NSA: 3,000 pieces in February 2013 alone and within the United States.
– **June 11, 2013.** The Guardian newspaper reveals Edward Snowden as the leaker of all the published information. Edward Snowden is immediately fired from Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the companies subcontracted by the NSA and in which Edward Snowden worked.
– **June 13, 2013** Edward Snowden claims the US has *hacked* and spied on Chinese systems for years. Later, espionage to Russian systems will also be confirmed.
– **June 14, 2013.** The United States Department of Justice takes action. Edward Snowden is charged with transmitting communications and information of a confidential nature associated with the intelligence services of the United States.
– **June 16, 2013.** The British and American intelligence services collected information from politicians attending the G8, G20 and United Nations summits.