Edward Snowden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edward Snowden
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Snowden in 2013
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| Born |
Edward Joseph Snowden
June 21, 1983 |
| Citizenship |
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| Occupation | Computer security consultant |
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| Known for | Revealing classified U.S. Government surveillance programs; in exile in Russia since June 23, 2013 |
| Spouse(s) |
Lindsay Mills
(m. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Edward J. Barrett (grandfather) |
| Awards | Right Livelihood Award |
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Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American computer expert who used to work for United States intelligence agencies. He is known for being a whistleblower, which is someone who exposes secret information they believe is wrong. In 2013, Snowden shared thousands of secret government documents with journalists.
These documents showed that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) was secretly collecting huge amounts of information from people all over the world. This included phone calls, emails, and internet activity. Snowden believed the public had a right to know about these secret surveillance programs.
After releasing the documents, the U.S. government accused Snowden of breaking the law. To avoid being arrested, he fled the country. He eventually received asylum in Russia, where he has lived since 2013. His actions started a worldwide debate about government spying, privacy, and national security.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Edward Joseph Snowden was born on June 21, 1983, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His family had a history of working for the U.S. federal government. His father was in the U.S. Coast Guard, and his mother worked at a federal court.
In the early 1990s, his family moved to Fort Meade, Maryland. He missed a lot of high school because he got sick with mononucleosis. Instead of going back, he passed the GED test. He later took classes at Anne Arundel Community College.
Snowden was very interested in computers and technology. He also studied Japanese and had a basic understanding of Mandarin Chinese. In 2011, he started an online master's degree program in computer security with the University of Liverpool but did not finish it.
In 2017, Snowden married Lindsay Mills in Russia. They have two sons.
Career in Intelligence
Working for the CIA
Snowden wanted to help his country, so he joined the United States Army in 2004. However, he had to leave after an injury during training. He then got a job as a security guard at a University of Maryland research center connected to the NSA.
In 2006, Snowden began working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was known as a "computer wizard" and was sent to a special school for technology experts. In 2007, the CIA sent him to Geneva, Switzerland, with a diplomatic job. His main role was to keep the computer networks secure.
Working as an NSA Contractor
In 2009, Snowden left the CIA and started working for Dell, a private company that worked with the government. He was assigned to an NSA facility in Japan. There, he taught officials how to protect their networks from computer hackers.
Over the next few years, he worked in different roles for Dell, becoming an expert in cybersecurity. In 2012, while working for Dell in Hawaii, he began to download the secret documents he would later share with the world.
In 2013, he took a job at another company, Booz Allen Hamilton, which also worked for the NSA. He said he took this job to gather more information about the NSA's surveillance programs. He worked there for about two months before leaving for Hong Kong.
The Surveillance Disclosures
In May 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong. There, he met with journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, and reporter Ewen MacAskill. He gave them thousands of classified documents he had collected.
What Did the Documents Reveal?
The documents Snowden leaked revealed many secret government spying programs. The most famous was called PRISM. This program allowed the NSA to get data directly from the servers of big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple.
Other revelations included:
- The NSA was collecting the phone records of millions of Americans.
- The NSA and its partners in the Five Eyes alliance (UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) were spying on people and leaders around the world.
- A program called XKeyscore allowed analysts to search through huge databases of internet activity.
- The NSA was trying to weaken encryption, which is used to keep online information private.
- The NSA secretly spied on online games like World of Warcraft.
The leaks showed that the NSA's goal was to "Collect it All." This meant gathering as much information as possible from the internet and phone networks worldwide.
Why Did Snowden Leak the Documents?
Snowden said his main reason for leaking the documents was to inform the public. He stated, "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded." He believed that the NSA's spying programs were a violation of people's privacy and the U.S. Constitution.
He said he first thought about leaking documents in 2008 but hoped that President Barack Obama would make changes. When the spying continued, he decided he had to act. He felt that the official ways to report problems inside the government would not work and that his concerns would be ignored.
Flight from the United States
After the first news stories based on his leaks were published in June 2013, Snowden's identity was revealed at his own request. The U.S. government quickly charged him with breaking the law and revoked his passport.
From Hong Kong to Moscow
To avoid being arrested and sent back to the U.S., Snowden decided to leave Hong Kong. On June 23, 2013, he flew to Moscow, Russia. His plan was to travel on to Latin America, where some countries had offered him asylum (protection).
However, he became stuck in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport. Because the U.S. had canceled his passport, he could not board another flight. He stayed in the airport for 39 days.
Asylum in Russia
Snowden applied for asylum in many countries. On August 1, 2013, Russia granted him temporary asylum for one year. He was finally able to leave the airport.
Since then, his permission to stay in Russia has been extended several times. In 2020, he was granted permanent residency. In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him Russian citizenship. Snowden said he and his wife applied for dual U.S.-Russian citizenship so they would not be separated from their children, who were born in Russia.
Snowden says he never intended to end up in Russia. He claims the U.S. government trapped him there by canceling his passport while he was in the air.
Reaction to the Disclosures
Snowden's actions caused a massive global reaction. People, governments, and companies debated whether the spying was necessary for security or a dangerous violation of privacy.
In the United States
The U.S. government strongly condemned Snowden's actions. Officials said the leaks damaged national security and helped terrorists. President Barack Obama said that while the debate was useful, the leaks had done more harm than good.
However, many people saw Snowden as a hero. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, called Snowden's leak the most important in U.S. history. Public opinion was divided. Some saw him as a patriot, while others saw him as a traitor.
The leaks led to changes in U.S. law. In 2015, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act. This law placed some limits on the NSA's ability to collect phone records in bulk. In 2020, a federal court ruled that one of the mass surveillance programs Snowden exposed was illegal.
Around the World
Many world leaders were angry to learn that the U.S. had been spying on them, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaks created tension between the U.S. and some of its closest allies.
In Europe and other parts of the world, public support for Snowden was very high. He received many awards for his actions, including the Right Livelihood Award in 2014, sometimes called Sweden's "Alternative Nobel Prize."
The United Nations criticized the U.S. for its widespread surveillance and said that whistleblowers like Snowden should be protected, not punished.
Life in Russia
Snowden lives a relatively normal life in Moscow with his family. He makes a living by speaking at conferences and events around the world through video calls.
In 2019, he published a memoir called Permanent Record. In the book, he explains his life story and why he decided to leak the secret documents. The U.S. government sued him over the book, and a court ruled that the government could collect all the money he earned from it.
Snowden remains an active voice in the debate about technology, privacy, and surveillance. He often uses social media to share his opinions on current events.
Images for kids
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A chart showing the secret budget for U.S. intelligence agencies in 2013.
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A rally in Hong Kong to support Snowden in June 2013.
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A map showing how European countries closed their airspace to the Bolivian president's plane in July 2013, suspecting Snowden was on board.
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A rally in Germany supporting Snowden in August 2014.
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Snowden speaking at a TED conference from Russia using a telepresence robot.
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See also
In Spanish: Edward Snowden para niños
