[Bill] Binney designed ThinThread, an NSA program that used encryption to try to make mass surveillance less objectionable. It would still have been unlawful and unconstitutional.

My whole model, from the beginning, was not to personally publish a single document. I provided these documents to journalists because I didn't want my biases to decide what's in the public interest and what is not.

What defines patriotism, for me, is the idea that one rises to act on behalf of one's country.

I've been a spy for almost all of my adult life - I don't like being in the spotlight.

A given order may at any given time fail to represent those values, even work against those values. I think that's the dynamic we're seeing today.

My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.

If I had to guess what the future's going to look like for me - assuming it's not an orange jumpsuit in a hole - I think I'm going to alternate between tech and policy.