It's important that we elevate and primarily focus on the rights of American citizens, but it's also important that we don't forget, 95 percent of the world's population lives beyond our own borders.
Edward SnowdenRead
If an NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for anything they want. Phone number, email, user id, cell phone handset id (IMEI), and so on - it's all the same.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the extensive access analysts have to personal data through advanced surveillance technologies.
Edward Snowden's quote addresses the alarming reality of surveillance by intelligence agencies, emphasizing how analysts have the capability to access vast arrays of personal information, including phone numbers and email addresses, through raw Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) databases. This raises significant concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of such power, as it underscores a system where personal information is easily retrievable, leading to questions about the balance between national security and individual rights.
Themes
SurveillancePrivacyTechnologyIntelligenceData Access
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on privacy rights, this quote could be used to illustrate the extent of surveillance.
More from Edward Snowden
All quotes →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.
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Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people. And for what? So we can have secret access to a computer in a country we're not even fighting?
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A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.
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Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American, and the more panicked talk we hear from people like him... the better off we all are.
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I don't see myself as a hero because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.
Edward SnowdenRead
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