14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden has stepped out of the shadows over in Russia and is calling out the FBI director for one statement he recently made regarding the Bureau’s preferring to gather intelligence with front-door tactics.
James Comey has recently said that the FBI prefers getting its information straight up, rather than use back-door tactics that provide law enforcement secret paths to access encrypted data. At the same time, he was criticizing Google and Apple for giving users the power to encrypt their phone data, because the FBI and other law enforcement would have a tougher time to get their hands on the information.
The whistleblower said that while Comey kept asking for a front door, this actually already exists, and it’s called a “warrant.”
Snowden says it’s all hogwash and that the entire problem isn’t just about surveillance, but about the type of society we live in and the power the government agencies are granting themselves.
“One of the most significant things that was not well understood about the events of last year was that it’s not entirely about surveillance,” Snowden said during a conference on digital news and security held in Washington, D.C. The problem, he says, is the shift in balance from traditional institutions such as the press and civic society to the self-serving government bodies.
“We have seen a trend toward governments that are affording themselves, in secret, greater powers and more and more authority without the consent or awareness of the public,” Snowden said.
Don't just encrypt, fight for press freedom
Since this conference was, in part, about the future of digital news, Snowden said that journalists should think that the only way to protect themselves and their sources is by hiding their traces with the help of encryption. As Snowden points out, by accepting this situation as it is, we’re changing what the media stands for. People should push for regulations that preserve the freedom of the press, the whistleblower added.
Although this scandal has been going on for well over a year, it’s pretty clear now that the White House has no intention whatsoever in putting a stop to the mass surveillance apparatus the NSA has spent so many years putting together.
Despite multiple promises for various anti-surveillance measures, there’ve been no real steps taken in this direction. Any legislation that seeks to limit the NSA’s power has been stuck in the Congress for months, much to everyone’s exasperation.