The source behind the leak of the top-secret NSA surveillance program \u2014 one of the most significant leaks in US history \u2014 has been revealed. A 29-year-old former CIA contractor Edward Snowden has fled to Hong Kong to avoid the fate of Bradley Manning.<\/p>\n
\n The former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee
\n of the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, had asked the
\n Guardian to reveal his identity and had never planned on hiding.
\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have
\n done nothing wrong,\u201d<\/i> he said in an interview.\n<\/p>\n
\n Snowden predicts that the government will launch an investigation
\n against him, however it was \u201ca matter of principle\u201d<\/i> for
\n him because he believes that the people should know how the
\n government intrudes into their privacy. According to Snowden he
\n acted out of a desire to protect “basic liberties”<\/i> and to
\n \u201csend a message to government that people will not be
\n intimidated.\u201d<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy
\n privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around
\n the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly
\n building,\u201d<\/i> said the whistleblower.
\n <\/p>\n
\n Snowden leaked top-secret documents to The Guardian that included
\n the existence of a US National Security Agency\u2019s extensive spying
\n program called PRISM. The program was designed to collect
\n information about digital communications allowing real-time
\n online surveillance of US citizens.
\n <\/p>\n
\n According to the leaked information it gives \u201cdirect
\n access\u201d<\/i> to files from the servers of major internet companies
\n including Google and Facebook. The spying program was allegedly
\n targeted to identify \u201cfolks who might engage in
\n terrorism,\u201d<\/i> according to US president Barack Obama, who noted
\n that American citizens should be prepared to trade some of
\n their freedoms for more safety.\n<\/p>\n
\n Snowden said he is willingly sacrificing his very comfortable
\n life with a family he loves and a stable career with a salary of
\n around $200,000. “My sole motive is to inform the public as to
\n that which is done in their name and that which is done against
\n them.”<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\n A former MI5 agent Annie Machon believes that Snowden will be the
\n first of a series of modern whistleblowers who learnt from the
\n terrible tragedy of the Bradley Manning case.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe way he has run the whole exposure and disclosure of the
\n crimes of the NSA and what they are doing against the American
\n people and the rest of the world people has been very
\n sophisticated. And I take heart from that. The fact that he has
\n fled the USA, he is now in Hong Kong. The fact that he has been
\n working with journalists of Glenn Greenwald’s caliber,\u201d<\/i>
\n Machon told RT. \u201cI think it\u2019s been very, very well done. I
\n would call this Whistleblowing 2.0.\u201d<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\n The revelation of the whistleblowers identity comes after NSA
\n filed a leak investigation report on Sunday to the Justice
\n Department for it to launch a criminal case into the breach of
\n security. The leaks also come amid US Army Private Bradley
\n Manning\u2019s trial on charges of transmitting classified materials
\n connected with US military operations abroad to the WikiLeaks
\n website. The Obama administration has aggressively pursued
\n whistleblowers and Snowden expects the government to pursue him,
\n however he states that he \u201cis not afraid , because this is the
\n choice I’ve made.\u201d<\/i>
\n <\/p>\n