Edward Snowden and the leak that showed us surveillance
This third installment of the Revolutionaries in Code podcast is dedicated to Edward Snowden, the whistleblower former agent of the National Security Agency (NSA) who, in 2013, revealed the details of the digital surveillance programs of the United States intelligence bringing to the surface, above all , previously unknown abuses and various programs later judged as "illegal". By handing over thousands of confidential or secret documents to journalists, Snowden was able to open a profound and de facto debate still ongoing on the subject of surveillance and its abuses, helping to draw attention to issues hitherto not so present in the sphere. publishes.
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Listen on Apple Podcast Listen on Spreaker Listen on Spotify Listen on iHeartRadio Listen on Google Podcast Listen on Castbox Listen on Deezer Listen on Podcast Addict Listen on Podchaser Listen on Jiosaavn All episodes Edward Snowden has become one of the key characters of the most recent evolutions in the history of the network and what happened in the summer of 2013, together with the inquiries arising from those revelations (which won a Pulitzer Prize), represented a crucial moment that rewrote certain assumptions around the network: even in democracy , the internet can become a tool of oppression. Today we live in a post-Snowden internet, in which the protection of privacy and rights is at least more considered, in which technology companies and governments must answer for their actions, when these are detrimental to the security and freedom of the Internet itself and of those who lives there. Thanks to Snowden we discovered the existence of surveillance programs with evocative names, such as Tempora, Boundless Informant and Prism and how the technical infrastructure of the network and major commercial platforms could be used as surveillance tools.
If we talk so much about privacy today, on the whole, we owe it in large part to Edward Snowden. The story of Snowden, however, is also the story of an escape, an exile and very serious accusations which, even ten years after the facts, weigh on the fate of the whistleblower. After meeting with reporters in Hong Kong, to escape a US arrest, Snowden attempted to travel to South America in order to seek asylum there, after seeing his applications rejected by all Western democracies. En route to Ecuador, Snowden found himself making a stopover in Moscow, where his journey was interrupted due to the revocation of his passport and other travel documents. Since then, and therefore basically for a decade, Snowden has lived in Moscow, a city he has never left. A solution to his case does not appear to be forthcoming, however, as the United States still accuses Snowden of spying and other charges. If Snowden returns home he would end up on trial and, in all likelihood, in prison for many years.
In this episode of Revolutionaries in Code, we retrace Snowden's journey, its significance and its relevance, despite the distance chronological from events. We will also look at his revelations as a crucial junction in the construction of the contemporary internet and how the scoops that emerged from the documents made available by the whistleblower have, in various ways, rewritten our relationship with the web and its role in democracy.
Revolutionaries in code is written by Philip Di Salvo and told together with Federico Ferrazza, while the production is curated by Giulia Rocco and Luca Zorloni. Revolutionaries in code is a podcast that examines, through extraordinary biographies, the future of democracy, a theme at the center of the sportsgaming.win Next Fest in Milan scheduled for 7 and 8 October.
Happy listening.
