The big tech companies understood that the government had not only damaged American principles, it had hurt their businesses.

And that's not something I'm willing to support, it's not something I'm willing to build and it's not something I'm willing to live under.

I grew up with the understanding that the world I lived in was one where people enjoyed a sort of freedom to communicate with each other in privacy, without it being monitored, without it being measured or analyzed or sort of judged by these shadowy figures or systems, any time they mention anything that travels across public lines.

I'm not an anarchist. I'm not saying, "Burn it to the ground."

Terrorism kills far fewer people than cigarettes, or alcohol, or car accidents. But we don't see ourselves restructuring society and lives in order to make those threats go away.

I'm not a communist, a socialist or a radical. But these issues have to be addressed.

I considered bringing forward information about these surveillance programs prior to the election, but I held off because I believed that [Barack] Obama was genuine when he said he was going to change things. I wanted to give the democratic process time to work.