We've already seen, in practically every country around the world where these issues have been covered, that the general public has recoiled at the ideology behind these programs.
Edward SnowdenYou're not patriotic just because you back whoever's in power today or their policies. You're patriotic when you work to improve the lives of the people of your country, your community and your family. Sometimes that means making hard choices, choices that go against your personal interest.
Edward SnowdenI don't think there's anything, any threat out there today that anyone can point to, that justifies placing an entire population under mass surveillance.
Edward SnowdenI had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.
Edward SnowdenPeople sometimes say I broke an oath of secrecy - one of the early charges leveled against me. But it's a fundamental misunderstanding, because there is no oath of secrecy for people who work in the intelligence community. You are asked to sign a civil agreement, called a Standard Form 312, which basically says if you disclose classified information, they can sue you; they can do this, that and the other. And you risk going to jail.
Edward SnowdenWhen we talk about computer network exploitation, computer network attack, we're not just talking about your home PC. We're talking about your cell phone, and we're also talking about internet routers themselves. The NSA is attacking the critical infrastructure of the internet to try to take ownership of it. They hack the routers that connect nations to the internet itself.
Edward Snowden