NSA leaker

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former undercover CIA employee, unmasked himself Sunday as the principal source of recent Washington Post and Guardian disclosures about top-secret National Security Agency programs.

Snowden, who has contracted for the NSA and works for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, denounced what he described as systematic surveillance of innocent citizens and said in an interview that "it's important to send a message to government that people will not be intimidated."

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said Saturday that the NSA had initiated a Justice Department investigation into who leaked the information — an investigation supported by intelligence officials in Congress.

Snowden, whose full name is Edward Joseph Snowden, said he understands the risks of disclosing the information but felt it was important to do.

"I'm not going to hide," Snowden told The Post from Hong Kong, where he has been staying. The Guardian was the first to publicly identify Snowden, at his request. "Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest."

Asked whether he believed his disclosures would change anything, he said: "I think they already have. Everyone everywhere now understands how bad things have gotten — and they're talking about it. They have the power to decide for themselves whether they are willing to sacrifice their privacy to the surveillance state."

Snowden said nobody was aware of his actions, including those closest to him. He said there wasn't a single event that spurred his decision to leak the information.

"It was more of a slow realization that presidents could openly lie to secure the office and then break public promises without consequence," he said.

Snowden said President Obama hasn't lived up to his pledges of transparency. He blamed a lack of accountability in the Bush administration for continued abuses. "It set an example that when powerful figures are suspected of wrongdoing, releasing them from the accountability of law is 'for our own good,' " Snowden said. "That's corrosive to the basic fairness of society."

The White House did not respond to multiple e-mails seeking comment and spokesman Josh Earnest, who was traveling with the president, said the White House would have no comment Sunday.

A brief statement from a spokesperson for Clapper's office referred media to the Justice Department for comment and said the intelligence community was "reviewing the damage" that had been done by the leaks. "Any person who has a security clearance knows that he or she has an obligation to protect classified information and abide by the law," the statement said.

Snowden also expressed hope that the NSA surveillance programs would now be open to legal challenge for the first time. Earlier this year, in Amnesty International v. Clapper, the Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against the mass collection of phone records because the plaintiffs could not prove exactly what the program did or that they were personally subject to surveillance.

Article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/intelligence-leaders-push-back-on-leakers-media/2013/06/09/fff80160-d122-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

Mi nombre es Ed Snowden. Tengo 29 años.

Trabajo para Booz Allen Hamilton como Analista de Infraestructura para la NSA en Hawaii.

¿Cuales son algunos de los puestos que ocupaste anteriormente dentro de la Comunidad de Inteligencia?

He sido Ingeniero en Sistemas, Administrador de Sistemas,

Consejero Mayor para la Agencia Central de Inteligencia,

Consultor de Soluciones y Funcionario de Sistemas de Telecomunicaciones e Informatica.

Una de las cosas en las que la gente va a estar mas interesada es

tratar de entender quien eres y en que estas pensando,

si hubo algun punto cuando cruzaste esa linea al pensar en convertirte en un informante

el tomar la decision de realmente convertirte en un informante

guia a la gente a traves de ese proceso de decidirte

Cuando estas en posicion de acceso privilegiado, como un administrador de sistemas para este tipo de comunidades de agencias de inteligencia,

estas expuesto a muchisima mas informacion y en una mayor escala que un empleado promedio

y por eso ves cosas que pueden ser alarmantes

pero en el curso de la carrera de una persona normal, verías solamente una o dos de esos escenarios.

Cuando ves todo, lo ves de forma frecuente

y reconoces que algunas de estas cosas son realmente abusos

y cuando hablas con la gente sobre ello, en un lugar como este, donde este es el estado normal de las cosas,

la gente tiende a no tomarlas en serio, y ya sabes, dejarlas pasar.

Pero con el tiempo, te das cuenta de que estas haciendo mal y te sientes obligado a hablar sobre ello,

y mientras mas hablas sobre eso, o mientras mas lo ignoras, lo mucho que te dicen no es un problema,

hasta que eventualmente te das cuenta que estas cosas debe decidirlas el publico,

no alguien a quien simplemente el gobierno contrató.

¿Háblanos un poco sobre como funciona el estado de vigilancia americano, esta enfocado a acciones de americanos?

La NSA, y la comunidad de inteligencia en general, esta enfocada en conseguir inteligencia como puedan, por cualquier medio posible,

y creen, en la base de alguna clase de auto-certificación, que estan sirviendo al interés nacional.

originalmente, vimos ese enfoque muy estrechamente adaptado mientras se recolectaba inteligencia en el extranjero.

Ahora, cada vez mas, vemos que esta pasando internamente

y para hacer esto, ellos, la NSA en especifico, apunta a las comunicaciones de todos.

las procesa por defecto

las recoge en su sistema y las filtra, y las analiza, y las guarda por periodos de tiempo,

simplemente porque esa es la forma mas rapida, eficiente y valiosa de conseguir estos objetivos.

asi que, mientras intenten apuntar a alguien asociado con un gobierno extranjero

o alguien de quien sospechen de ser terrorista, ellos estan recogiendo tus comunicaciones para hacerlo.

cualquier analista en cualquier momento puede