Edward Snowden

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) Snowden released classified material on top-secret NSA programs including the PRISM surveillance program to The Guardian and The Washington Post in June 2013.
Snowden said his leaking of PRISM and FISA orders related to NSA data capture efforts was an effort to blow the whistle on what he believes is excessive government surveillance of the American people. He traveled to Hong Kong before the leaks were publicized, expressing hope of eventually being granted asylum in Iceland. The U.S. Department of Justice has classified Snowden's involvement in the PRISM surveillance program as a "criminal matter", and his fate remains unclear.
Early life and career
Family and education
Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His father, a resident of Pennsylvania, was an officer in the United States Coast Guard; and his mother, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, is a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. and later obtained his GED.
Before leaving for Hong Kong, Snowden was living in Waipahu, West Oahu, Hawaii with his girlfriend.
Career
On May 7, 2004, Snowden enlisted in the United States Army with the hope of eventually joining the Special Forces. before joining the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to work on IT security.
In 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for maintaining computer network security. Snowden left the agency in 2009 for a private contractor inside an NSA facility on a United States military base in Japan. He described his life as "very comfortable," earning a salary of "roughly ." For the 2012 election, political donation records indicate that he contributed to the primary campaign of Ron Paul.
PRISM whistleblowing
Media disclosures about PRISM
In May 2013, Snowden was granted temporary leave from his work as a contractor for the NSA in Hawaii, on the pretext of receiving treatment for his epilepsy. Greenwald claims to have been working with Snowden since Feburary, while Gellman says his first "direct contact" was on May 16;
On June 6, Gellman quotes Snowden as having "jitters", and saying that "the police already visited my house this morning". However, Kristin Arnadottir, the Icelandic ambassador to China, pointed out that an asylum cannot be granted to Snowden because Icelandic law requires such applications be made from within the country.
On June 10, CNN reported that Snowden is "running out of cash," with The Guardian ' s Ewen MacAskill claiming that Snowden's "credit card is going to max out pretty quickly" because of the expense of living in a hotel in Hong Kong. Staff at the The Mira hotel have claimed Snowden checked out that day. Hong Kong legislator and former Secretary for Security Regina Ip had advised Snowden to leave the territory or face extradition to United States.
Dmitry Peskov, the press attaché for the Russian president, has suggested Russia's willingness to open the discussion on asylum upon Snowden’s request.
Reaction
Government
The National Security Agency has requested a criminal probe into Snowden's actions from the United States Department of Justice. James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, said that his "reckless disclosures" have resulted in "significant misimpressions" in the media. Speaking before Snowden was named, chairman of the US Select Committee on Intelligence Mike Rogers said of the whistleblower: "I absolutely think they should be prosecuted."
Peter King, formerly the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called for Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong, with which the United States has an extradition treaty but with exclusions for political offenses.
Former employers
Snowden's employer Booz Allen Hamilton released a statement condemning his actions as "shocking" and "a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm." The statement emphasized his short-term involvement with the firm stating Snowden had been in Hawaii working for less than three months.
A spokesperson for Dell declined to comment on Snowden's claimed past employment with the firm. In an op-ed the following morning, Ellsberg added that "there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material - and that includes the Pentagon Papers, for which I was responsible 40 years ago."
Julian Assange praised Snowden, calling him "a "hero" who has exposed "one of the most serious events of the decade - the creeping formulation of a mass surveillance state".
Senator Rand Paul and former Representative Ron Paul have praised Snowden, as well as journalist Glenn Greenwald, for exposing secret government surveillance to the public, and Rand Paul has stated he is interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit over PRISM.
Press and public
Amy Davidson, writing in The New Yorker, said Snowden "is the reason our country has, in the last week, been having a conversation on privacy and the limits of domestic surveillance. That was overdue, and one wishes it had been prompted by self-examination on the part of the Obama Administration or real oversight by Congress."
German magazine Der Spiegel reviewed Snowden's action in an article titled "The New World-Improvers" ("Die Neuen Weltverbesserer").
Shortly after Snowden revealed his identity, a petition was posted on the White House website, asking for "a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs."

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