Edward SnowdenRecensioni

Thank you Edward Snowden!

Eleven years hence, all I can say is: what bravery, what madness! Let Edward Snowden come home. Daniel Ellsberg did not have to go into exile--why should Snowden be stuck in Russia, of all places?

The writing style is engrossing and emotional, the story is important, and I found that I could relate to a lot of Snowden's thoughts and experiences growing up. I highly recommend it whether you've been following his story since 2013 or whether you barely know anything about him.

I have worked in and around the IT industry for over 15 years and grew up, similarly to Snowden, enamored with technology. I got my first PC, a XT clone, at around age 10 and started running my own BBS shortly after. I remember those first days of the internet, my first website, and the days before social media. None of what he exposed in 2013 really surprised me or people like me - at least not from a technological perspective. It was always an assumption that this stuff could happen. Taking over cameras, stepping through backdoors in routers, listening in on microphones, browsing private social media pages. Of course that's possible. What we didn't fully appreciate was the scope. The story Edward Snowden has to tell is an important one... and the book covers his life and the events surrounding his whistleblowing with great detail and emotion. It not only explains what he did, but he tries to tell the story of why he did it. It's a wonderfully crafted book that should be standard reading for any technologist.

That the US government is collecting data on such an enormous scale, passively, and storing it in perpetuity... that should frighten everyone, and it's enough to start making you paranoid of the things you do online. Of course, I'm just a middle aged white guy in Canada who lives a fairly standard, boring life. I'm not a juicy surveillance target. Or am I?

Hello?

...are you reading this?

Hello?

Em 2013, Edward Snowden, ex-analista da CIA (Agência Central de Inteligência) que também trabalhou como agente da NSA (Agência Nacional de Segurança), chocou o mundo ao desmascarar detalhes dos serviços secretos americanos. Snowden revelou que o governo dos Estados Unidos estava sigilosamente desenvolvendo meios para coletar todos os telefonemas, mensagens de texto e e-mails enviados em qualquer país do mundo. O resultado seria um sistema sem precedente de vigilância em massa capaz de se intrometer na vida particular de qualquer pessoa. Uma invasão à privacidade de pessoas e países que feria as liberdades individuais dos cidadãos e de governos. As revelações causaram um mal-estar diplomático entre os Estados Unidos e nações aliadas. Entre os inúmeros documentos que vazou, apareceram vários apontando para o monitoramento de mensagens da então presidenta Dilma Roussef e seus principais assessores e outros mostrando que o governo americano espionava o Ministério de Minas e Energia, a Petrobras e as descobertas do pré-sal. Pivô de um escândalo de proporções globais, Snowden virou da noite para o dia o homem mais procurado do planeta. Considerado inimigo público pelo governo americano e herói por milhões de pessoas, acabou buscando asilo na Rússia, onde vive até hoje. Em Eterna vigilância, ele conta como ajudou a criar este sistema de espionagem mundial e também como atuou para desvendá-lo ao se dar conta dos perigos deste projeto. Afirma não ser contra que os governos coletem informações por medidas de segurança, mas alerta para o risco de se vigiar pessoas da hora em que nascem até a hora que morrerem. E alerta para que todos, homens e mulheres de todas as idades e em todos os países, tenham muito cuidado ao dar um telefonema, mandar uma mensagem de áudio ou digitar dados de sua conta bancária.

I thought I knew the scale of the surveillance that the NSA (the National Security Agency, a premier American intelligence agency) was conducting on its citizens (and through various alliances, any Web traffic that passed through its borders) - but to read about it in its full and chilling detail is astounding.
To give a brief background, Edward Snowden is famous (or depending upon your views on whistleblowers, infamous) for leaking, in explicit detail, how the US had built a massive surveillance program to spy on its own citizens, in the guise of 'protecting the country from terrorists'. To put it simply, anyone who was deemed even slightly suspicious had a 'marker' placed upon them (for example, a professor who applied for tenure in a university in Iran). This marker meant that everything - where you eat, where you go, who you meet with - was tracked. This was not even the most chilling fact - the cherry on the cake was the fact that everything that was tracked was permanently stored, and the aforementioned marker could be placed even if the person 'could be suspected in the future' - hence the title of the memoir, 'Permanent Record'.
Naturally, these revelations performed a furore. The United States revoked his passport midair, while he was enroute to Ecuador, where he was offered asylum. He has been in forced exile in Russia since he landed in the airport, in June 2013.
In the memoir, though, Snowden details how he became interested in programming, how he became a defense contractor working for various intelligence agencies, and why he actually became a whistelblower. Even putting aside the unsettling nature of the disclosures, this is a riveting read on its own, as Snowden details his own life in vivid detail, and how his experiences shaped him. A must read if you're curious about cybersecurity, privacy, or just in the mood of rich memoirs.

I felt some nostalgia at the beginning of the book with discussion of the emergence of personal computers and the Internet of the 1990s.

I found it to be a very engaging story about Edward's life, the emotions and moral dilemnas he confronted, and the Intelligence Community (IC).

I was surprised to read that so much of the IC in the US is outsourced to organisations or contractors.

I was aware that there was and is a significant amount of surveillance capability, but it was interesting to have some of it confirmed and hear about the extent of this capability and importance of metadata over content.

The challenges of releasing the information and being credible whilst maintaining anonymity was an interesting read.

Reading about the power of XKEYSTORE to search nearly everything a user does in the Internet was mind-blowing; thoughts of Big Brother in George Oswell's 1984 came to mind.

I am amazed by Edward's courage to speak up despite knowing that there would be significant consequences to his life.

Engaging story. Can't believe someone being so brave as to stand against the injustices and bullying of the most militarily powerful country in the world.

The first rule of book club is…

I read “Permanent Record” by Edward Snowden, our most recent selection for the Manly Book Club. To read it while watching the disaster that is the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is at times an emotional experience. Snowden is just a few years younger than I am, and though we come from different backgrounds, there are moments when I find myself empathizing with him. Like him, I found myself at a point when public education no longer made sense, and I set off to make my own way. Later, we were both in or near D.C. during 9/11 and were deeply affected by the events of that day. Both of us love our country and have sought a path that allowed us to serve.

Those paths, however, have led us in different careers and the similarities stop there.

A tech wiz from an early age, Snowden took a career as an intelligence contractor and found employment in various agencies in the US intelligence apparatus, including first the CIA and then the NSA. As he began to learn and understand more about how the Chinese government was collecting information, or rather, “mass surveilling” its own people, Snowden began to believe that the United States was doing the same. Concerned about this (and cutting a long story short), Snowden decided to leak to that the US government was surveilling everyone, all the time, far beyond Constitutional limits.

The rest is history. Snowden absconded with US secrets to Russia, intending to arrive eventually in Uruguay. US officials revoked his passport, stranding him there where he remains today. Google it. There's a lot to the story.

This Tuesday, we'll debate in book club whether Snowden is a hero or a villain.

- Did Snowden do the right thing, or was he misguided?
- Is he a hero? Is he a villain?
- Is Snowden an honest person? He's telling his own story--but how much is he spinning? How much is true and how much is embellished and how much is flat out false?
- Let’s assume Snowden is correct and the US government is conducting warrantless, mass surveillance of its own people: could Snowden have affected change in some other way that might have been less harmful to US intelligence capabilities?
- Would I have the courage to do the same if presented with the same facts?
- With this technology available, is mass surveillance inevitable?
- Can we unring the bell? How do we combat countries that do not operate under the limitations of the United States? Can the US remain safe against China, Russia, and other countries that do not play by the rules we claim to follow in the Bill of Rights?
- Or is it better to be ignorant that we are under constant surveillance? Is ignorance the opioid of the masses? Do we care?
- Must some pay the price of a spook's life to protect the rest of us?

Edward Snowden's autobiography, from childhood through his government career, his release of classified information, and his exile.

He seems sincere, though I always had that impression. My reflections are mostly on me in relation to this book -- it reinforces the observation that the narratives of people who have been through identity-forming crucibles (like a religious conversion or coming out) always see portents of the future when retelling their history, it brings home to me how very ordinary Snowden's life was right up until the minute he decided to smuggle classified documents, and I had some surprise that all the usual (and highly effective) government indoctrination processes didn't actually work on him.

Awww, this is actually the cutest love story (yes I know that's not supposed to be what I take away). Extremely well written, and very intriguing from page 1. It's a memoir but intersperses a lot of Snowden's thoughts and commentaries, and I appreciated how at the end he details the ways in which private companies have changed their actions based on the information he leaked. Nothing new or novel, but this is a reminder of how terrifying it is that we've become so complacent with our security, yet despite, I never felt that Snowden was critical or judgemental.

Listened on audio. MacAudio is brilliant.

Edward Snowden schreibt über sein nicht ganz so gewöhnliches Leben und wie es dazu kam, dass er das tat, was in aller Munde war.
An sich ist das Buch nicht schlecht, interessant geschrieben und bietet einen Einblick, den die beiden Filme nicht ganz vermitteln. Allerdings driftet es auch in einen subtilen Unterton ab, der einem vermitteln möchte, dass sich Snowden für seine Taten entschuldigen möchte, was mir nicht so gut gefallen hat. Es schmälert zwar nicht die Tat aber die Aussagekraft der Intention dahinter. Nichtsdestotrotz weiß das Buch zu begeistern und ich empfehle es allen die mehr über die Thematik erfahren möchte.

Permanent Record Lessons and Key Takeaways

1. Learn to control the information you put up about yourself. Talk about books instead.
2. Computers are a necessity of life. Use it to your advantage by learning how to code and manage your information in ways that will protect you and serve you well.
3. Information without knowledge is nothing.
4. In order to know you have to understand the system.
5. Understand the system by learning about the rules and regulations and the laws of the land. Both computer and not.
6. An informed citizen is better than an uninformed one. So much better a computer intelligent one.
7. The Internet is the Internet. If you use it use it with a purpose. Use it to teach yourself information. Or learn something. Or do not use it at all if at all possible.
8. Know the difference between real and fake information, news, and messages.
9. Don’t believe everything you hear. Do your research. Detailed. Thoroughly.
10. Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

Biggest Takeaway

Do not believe things blindly.

Quote in Summary

“If you do not know something research it. Then absorb it. Then teach it so it can be paid forward to someone else. Saying I don’t know is a perfect reason for learning and growing and becoming more aware. Aware of yourself. Aware of the rules and regulations. Aware of what you can do to change the outcome of your life one step at a time.”

His enthusiasm and patriotism seem sincere. He convincingly describes the reasons for his decision. And he's still alive.

Fascinating. Even to those who aren't particularly intrigued by the subject matter, the book is well written and a compelling narrative. I recommend it to everyone.

I'm on the list.

Snowden’s bombshell leak of NSA’s data collection program in 2013 changed the world forever. Keeping track of every netizen in the world was a sci-fi dream up until then. With the revelation came an unprecedented level of awareness of weaknesses in computer systems and a better understanding of data privacy. While Snowden has been branded as a traitor and ‘whistleblower’ by his government, I personally see him as a selfless hero who sacrificed his career and everything he knew for what he believed in.

He talks about all this in the book, the latter part of which discusses the thought process and the physical processes that went behind collecting data for the leak and how he moved to Hong Kong. However, I found the earlier chapters more interesting, especially the ones that discussed his childhood introduction and later obsession with computers and the Internet. Like him, I grew up in the 90s. Just like him, my first introduction was to game consoles and then later to 486 computers (and later Pentium 2!). And once more like him, I grew up on dial-up Internet.

His thoughts on the ‘wild’, decentralized nature of the early Internet and how it shaped his thinking were very similar to mine. I built personas and interacted with people online where no one would ask for your real name and people would (mostly) treat each other with respect. His views on how malleable the Internet was before corporatization took over were compelling, and I can’t help but agree with him on how the Internet has changed (for the worse) since then.

The chapters on pre-9/11 America were appealing as well, mostly because of how freedom was interpreted back then. His brief stint with the army felt like it was out of a movie, to be honest. Of course, people will read the book for Snowden’s jobs with the CIA and NSA. They don’t disappoint.

I gained a better understanding of Snowden’s feelings towards his country and towards his fellow citizens. These chapters gave insight into the intelligence community and how the American ones flout their own constitution all the time. He explains how these communities work, highlighting their rigid power structures. More than that, he clarifies his rationale for the things he did by connecting it to the US Constitution, highlighting his loyalty but disavowing nationalism.

We live in an increasingly surveilled world. Nothing on your computer or the Internet is private anymore - if you have a file on your computer, NSA has access to it, or that’s what Snowden highlights in the book. Going forward, encryption is the key.

The book was eye-opening and educational. It really resonated with me because of my own experiences with the Internet and just how closely my views are in alignment with Snowden’s, notably towards decentralization. This is a must-read if you’re remotely interested in data privacy, freedom of speech, and the future of the Internet.

I wrote a complete review about it here:
https://vocal.media/criminal/the-man-who-refused-to-hide-behind-a-mask

Well told personal account of what happened in 2012, and how his life lead up to those events.

Warning: By reading this book and this review you are probably put on some sort of list that the NSA has (and may have shared with it's allies). I'm not kidding, Ed even mentions this in the book.

This is an autobiography written by Ed, while he may have had a ghost writer help him with some thing it's still in Ed's style.

When I started to read this book, I found the pacing slow. So slow I was considering stopping, but I'm glad I finished it (even if it did take me a while to finish it).

If you kept up with the articles and movies that came out featuring Ed (like Citizenfour, or Snowden) then you most likely already know a good chuck of his story but it's still nice to read it from his point of view and there are many things that aren't covered elsewhere.

It's not a book everyone will enjoy, if you are a fan of Ed or what he has done then consider reading the book. If not then you aren't missing really important.

There are some amazing sentences in this book I want to share (there may be a few spoilers if you haven't heard everything about Ed's life)

"Life only scrolls in one direction, which is the direction of time, and no matter how far we might manage to go, that invisible wall will always be just behind us, cutting us off from the past, compelling us on into the unknown."

"My schoolwork was done on paper with pencils and erasers, not on networked tablets that logged my keystrokes."

"In the absolute worst case, I’d sputter, and my classmates would think I was stupid. Let them. You should always let people underestimate you."

"Technology doesn’t have a Hippocratic oath. So many decisions that have been made by technologists in academia, industry, the military, and government since at least the Industrial Revolution have been made on the basis of “can we,” not “should we.” And the intention driving a technology’s invention rarely, if ever, limits its application and use."

"You might choose to give it up out of convenience, or under the popular pretext that privacy is only required by those who have something to hide. But saying that you don’t need or want privacy because you have nothing to hide is to assume that no one should have, or could have, to hide anything—including their immigration status, unemployment history, financial history, and health records. You’re assuming that no one, including yourself, might object to revealing to anyone information about their religious beliefs, political affiliations, and sexual activities, as casually as some choose to reveal their movie and music tastes and reading preferences."

"our clouds, computers, and phones have become our homes, just as personal and intimate as our actual houses nowadays. If you don’t agree, then answer me this: Would you rather let your coworkers hang out at your home alone for an hour, or let them spend even just ten minutes alone with your unlocked phone?"

"I was carrying one of the big old hulks back to my desk when I passed one of the IT directors, who stopped me and asked me what I needed it for—he’d been a major proponent of getting rid of them. “Stealing secrets,” I answered, and we laughed."

"I’m going to refrain from publishing how exactly I went about my own writing—my own copying and encryption—so that the NSA will still be standing tomorrow."

"Although the deleted file disappears from view, it is rarely gone."

"it was like they were just trying to show me that they already knew everything about me. Of course they did. That was Ed’s point. The gov always knows everything."

"That Volcano Ed was going to destroy everything? But I remember the guide at Kilauea saying that volcanoes are only destructive in the short term. In the long term, they move the world."

"and play games I have to pirate because I can no longer use credit cards."

"I used to worry about the bus and metro, but nowadays everybody’s too busy staring at their phones to give me a second glance. If I take a cab, I’ll have it pick me up at a bus or metro stop a few blocks away from where I live and drop me off at an address a few blocks away from where I’m going."

Quite good, I had wanted to learn more about Snowden and the circumstances surrounding his reveal of the NSA's tactics and his subsequent exile and this book provides both. I enjoyed learning about his family and history, I think it gave good context to his decision to reveal the secrets he did. I'm very impressed by him, I understand why many would consider him a threat and a traitor, but the core explanation and motivations make total sense to me. Nobody has a right to look at my information without a warrant/just cause, yet we seem to willingly allow it, even after his bombshell revelations to the press.

As usual, it seems a small group of dedicated and fearless journalists, lawyers and whistleblowers are trying to do what is right and just and I have to admire that.

Un bon llibre per conèixer les motivacions que van portar l'Edward Snowden a ser el personatge públic que revelaria tot el sistema d'espionatge que el govern dels EUA estava aplicant a la seva ciutadania a través dels sistemes de la NSA.

Having worked for the government and having seen firsthand how whistleblowers are treated myself, I believe Snowden deserves everyone's thanks for coming forward and exposing the egregious actions of the Intelligence Community. He is one of my heroes right up there with Daniel Ellsberg. He is also a good writer. He even manages to incorporate some "laugh out loud" humor. A remarkable person.

Writes well. Very brave man for coming forward and exposing all this stuff the govenment was doing. Love how he explains what he did, vs how he was presented in the press as this rogue, dumb nerd. Glad he got married and is with someone he loves. At some point he may be looked at as a real hero. And also like his thought about = how can he be a whistleblower? Blowing the whistle; how about exposing serious illegal activity.

I don't agree with everything Snowden did, and I don't know how complete this book is about his motivations and actions, but even with those caveats, it's an excellent book.

The most interesting aspect for me was not the factual description of what he did (although there are some never-before-read details), but his mindset and motivation to choose to betray the NDAs and chain of command while (possibly) honoring the oath of service. The technical details about his archiving system (it basically crawled a bunch of the published-within-IC sources and then indexed them, republishing for internal use, which allowed him perfect cover for exfiltration...) were still interesting, of course. That NSA had incredibly lax internal security and compartmentalization in the 1993-2013 period (due to losing all the cold war people and replacing them with...a specific demographic profile), CIA and State's technical incompetence, etc. are all pretty well supported by evidence. (Incidentally, the technical jack of all trades at CIA job sounds pretty amazing.)

Least expected angle was just how impressive his wife is. NSA's initial angle was "stripper", which brings a whole set of assumptions. However, this was pretty clearly inaccurate -- she's an intelligent and thoughtful person (although not involved in Snowden's exfiltration of data or escape), and based on actions since the incident (moving to Russia, marrying Snowden a year later, ...), seems

His descriptions of contracting culture and the gov/contractor split, hypertrophy and metastasis of the IC and contractors, etc all are strongly supported by evidence (and my personal experience as a contractor with the government for several years).

What is missing, and calls into question the veracity of the whole account, is the exact process of deciding to do all of this. In the book, it was that he accidentally saw a STLW (Stellar Wind) document, related to one of the most morally and legally questionable programs post-Church conducted by the USG (and for which individuals should be prosecuted and likely hanged), then just started searching for and consuming information for his own education (to see if these programs really existed), and only then decided to leak. That's possible, but it's not strongly supported. The mysterious occurrence of epilepsy around this time which motivated him to spend time on self-reflection and switching to a role with less of everything except access to this data, etc. seems a bit too convenient. This is the one area where I'm still a bit suspicious of the whole affair (either that an external power was involved, or that other NSA insiders supported him), but the story as told could also be the truth -- it's just difficult or impossible to validate.

Overall, one of the best books about the complex and evolving interplay between young, relatively powerless individuals who have technical competence and thus effective technical control over large institutions like government vs. the official power structures, the failures of USG/IC, and one of the biggest news stories in civil liberties since the 1970s.