In case you missed it, Edward Snowden’s lawyer Ben Wizner was in Dublin this week where he spoke candidly about the impact of mass surveillance on freedom and the integrity of the global internet.
Edward Snowden is the NSA defector who is now living in exile in Moscow after evealing the extent of mass surveillance on US and non-US citizens via mobile communications networks and popular internet services, such as social network Facebook and internet search giant Google.
Wizner was in Dublin this week to attend the final SECILE conference on counterterrorism legislation.
Wizner, who is director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said that defense agencies like NSA and the UK’s GCHQ would serve their nations better by securing the internet rather than engaging in surveilance.
“Before Snowden revealed the extent of this mass surveillance, it was already clear to people that surveillance technology and its spread had outpaced demographic controls.
“It used to be commonplace to choose lives of practical obscurity, you controlled what could be seen about you by those around you. That option has now disappeared for all but the most isolated individuals.”
He also made it clear that he believes that agencies like the NSA have been inserting and harvesting back doors and zero day flaws in hardware and software in order to spy on people.
However, rather than protecting people, they are playing into the hands of malicious hackers.
“One of the most shocking things to come from the Edward Snowden revelations is that the NSA has been undermining encryption algorithms and standards to weaken them so its supercomputers can break encryption.”
Ben Wizner speech at SECILE, part 1
Edward Snowden lawyer Ben Wizner’s speech at the SECILE final conference in Dublin – Part 1 of 2
Ben Wizner speech at SECILE, part 2
Edward Snowden lawyer Ben Wizner’s speech at the SECILE final conference in Dublin – Part 2 of 2
