◼ An ex-CIA employee working as a contractor at the U.S. National Security Agency said he was the man who had leaked details of a top secret U.S. surveillance programme, acting out of conscience to protect "basic liberties for people around the world."
Holed up in a hotel room in Hong Kong, Edward Snowden, 29, said he had thought long and hard before publicising details of an NSA programme codenamed PRISM, saying he had done so because he felt his country was building an unaccountable and secret espionage machine that spied on every American.
Both the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper - to whom he gave the documents he had purloined - published his identity on Sunday.
"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things ... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under," he told the Guardian, which published a video interview with him on its website.
"The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards," he said....
Snowden's decision to reveal his identity and whereabouts lifts the lid on one of the biggest security leaks in U.S. history and escalates a story that has embarrassed the administration of President Barack Obama.
His decision to go public also potentially exposes him to the wrath of the U.S. authorities. The Guardian compared him to Bradley Manning, a soldier now on trial for aiding the enemy, for passing classified military and state department files to anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.
Snowden, who said he had left his girlfriend in Hawaii without telling her where he was going, said he knew the risk he was taking, but thought the publicity his revelations had garnered in the past few days had made it worth it.
"My primary fear is that they will come after my family, my friends, my partner. Anyone I have a relationship with," he said. "I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I am not going to be able to communicate with them. They (the authorities) will act aggressively against anyone who has known me. That keeps me up at night."
He spoke of his willingness to give up a comfortable life in Hawaii, where he earned about $200,000 a year: "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
Within minutes of Snowden's name being revealed by the Guardian he had become an instant folk hero.
DRUDGE HEADLINES TELL THE STORY:
VIDEO: The 29-year-old source behind biggest intelligence leak in NSA history explains his motives...
'I do not expect to see home again'...
'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'...
'I believed in Obama's promises'...
'Presidents openly lie to secure the office'...
'Government has granted itself power it is not entitled to'...
Suggests he's defecting -- to China?
Congressman: 'Can You Trust This Administration with Your Phone Records?'
Few options for online users to avoid spying...
Officials: NSA mistakenly intercepted emails, phone calls of innocent Americans...
Holder 'destroyed data'...
NYTIMES: Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program...
Credibility challenged...
Greenwald: USA wants to destroy privacy worldwide...
Snooping revelations cause trouble for allies...
Backlash over snooping intensifies...
Government to open criminal probe into leaks about leaks...
Whistleblower's NSA warning: 'Just the tip of the iceberg'...
CODE NAMED: Boundless Informant...
Justice Dept Fights Release of Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional Surveillance...
USA spends $80 billion year on secret information gathering...
Assange: US rule of law suffering 'calamitous collapse'...
Rand Paul: 'I'm Going To Challenge This At The Supreme Court'...
