The authoritarian one believed that an individual's rights were basically provided by governments and were determined by states. The other society - ours - tended to believe that a large portion of our rights were inherent and couldn't be abrogated by governments, even if this seemed necessary.
Edward SnowdenI'm saying we need to be aware of it, and we need to be able to distinguish when political developments are occurring that are contrary to the public interest.
Edward SnowdenTo do that they, the NSA specifically, targets the communications of everyone. It ingests them by default. It collects them in its system and it filters them and it analyses them and it measures them and it stores them for periods of time simply because that's the easiest, most efficient, and most valuable way to achieve these ends. So while they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government or someone they suspect of terrorism, they're collecting you're communications to do so.
Edward SnowdenAll those people who went out [to Occupy Wall Street] missed work, didn't get paid. Those were individuals who were already feeling the effects of inequality, so they didn't have a lot to lose. And then the individuals who were louder, more disruptive and, in many ways, more effective at drawing attention to their concerns were immediately castigated by authorities. They were cordoned off, pepper-sprayed, thrown in jail.
Edward SnowdenPeople say that [i'm a celebrity], but I've only had to sign autographs for "civ-libs" types. And I autograph court orders.
Edward SnowdenWhen you say, โI have nothing to hide,โ youโre saying, โI donโt care about this right.โ Youโre saying, โI donโt have this right, because Iโve got to the point where I have to justify it.โ The way rights work is, the government has to justify its intrusion into your rights.
Edward Snowden