Snowden: "I think a person should be able to [...] send an e-mail without worrying what it will look like on their permanent record."
NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden held a public Web chat on Thursday during which he answered questions sent in from hundreds of curious citizens via Twitter. This was Snowden's first live chat since June of last year, and during the broadcast viewers became privy to some of the outspoken leaker's opinions, especially that of the NSA and their previous actions.
The chat, hosted via the Free Snowden official website, spawned some interesting commentary (via CNET) as Snowden cemented his stance on spying, citing "not all spying is bad," going on to explain that the people at the NSA do have good intentions and were worried about what was happening to the country.
In the end, Snowden was confident that his actions were necessary in order to do any real good: "If we had had a real process in place, and reports of wrongdoing could be taken to real, independent arbiters rather than captured officials, I might not have had to sacrifice so much to do what at this point even the president seems to agree needed to be done." It's hard to objectively say whether his actions were right or wrong, but it's open forums like these that give us plenty of food for thought to digest.
What's your take on Snowden's actions and privacy concerns?
