Edward Snowden

I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression. ”

All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed. That is a milestone we left a long time ago. ”

The only time you can be completely free from risk is when you're in prison. ”

I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. ”

I do agree that when it comes to cyber warfare, we have more to lose than any other nation on earth. ”

When you use any kind of internet-based capability, any kind of electronic capability, to cause damage to a private entity or a foreign nation or a foreign actor, these are potential acts of war. ”

The public interest is not always the same as the national interest. Going to war with people who are not our enemy in places that are not a threat doesn't make us safe, and that applies whether it's in Iraq or on the Internet. The Internet is not the enemy. Our economy is not the enemy. ”

You could watch entire villages and see what everyone was doing. I watched NSA tracking people's Internet activities as they typed. I became aware of just how invasive U.S. surveillance capabilities had become. I realized the true breadth of this system. And almost nobody knew it was happening. ”

No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused. ”

When you are in positions of privileged access... you see things that may be disturbing. Over time, that awareness of wrongdoing sort of builds up. ”