Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.
Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent …
Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.
Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online – a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.
This was exactly what I had expected. An honest, inside look from the man who, it would not be hyperbole to say, changed the course of history for internet activism.
We all heard about Snowden, but did you ever realise what he actually did, what he sacrificed for what he thought was right? How he came to be the man that made those choices.
Permanent Record is a super interesting book about a normal guy who became super interesting.
It also shows how deep the rabbit hole is, and how important your (online) privacy is.
I consider this book a must read for everybody living in this day and age.
“The government should be afraid of the people, the people shouldn't be afraid of the government.” ― Edward Snowden, Permanent Record
Permanent Record has a few different stories within the story:
Early Life: You can skip this. Aside from growing up in the Intelligence Community region in Maryland, Snowden had a very average childhood and explains it in-depth for 7 chapters. You can start on chapter 8 (which begins with 9/11) and miss nothing important. It would have been great if Snowden used those pages to share his thoughts on any current tech or surveillance: cryptocurrency, biometrics like gait recognition and facial recognition, keystroke logging, VPN/VPS/VPC, cookies, blockchain, anything really.
Intelligence Community Operations: The differences between CIA and NSA knowledge, the evolution of mass surveillance, casual privacy violations and public doxing, how agencies negotiate higher salaries for employees and contractors at the taxpayer's expense, etc.
Route to Whistleblowing: Snowden’s different jobs within the Intelligence Community, his assignments and growing unease, preparations for leaking, and his life …
My first dystopian horror book.
Permanent Record has a few different stories within the story:
Early Life: You can skip this. Aside from growing up in the Intelligence Community region in Maryland, Snowden had a very average childhood and explains it in-depth for 7 chapters. You can start on chapter 8 (which begins with 9/11) and miss nothing important. It would have been great if Snowden used those pages to share his thoughts on any current tech or surveillance: cryptocurrency, biometrics like gait recognition and facial recognition, keystroke logging, VPN/VPS/VPC, cookies, blockchain, anything really.
Intelligence Community Operations: The differences between CIA and NSA knowledge, the evolution of mass surveillance, casual privacy violations and public doxing, how agencies negotiate higher salaries for employees and contractors at the taxpayer's expense, etc.
Route to Whistleblowing: Snowden’s different jobs within the Intelligence Community, his assignments and growing unease, preparations for leaking, and his life after. This is all very interesting.
Sidebar Tech Lessons: Metadata, smart fridges, end-to-end encryption, etc. I could have read a whole book of this, since Snowden is someone who is effectively managing these technologies and knows what he’s talking about. These are things that need to be common knowledge.
Un témoignage passionnant du lanceur d’alerte Edward Snowden, qui a révélé au monde entier le programme illégal et anticonstitutionnel de surveillance de masse de la NSA cautionné par le gouvernement américain.
Les premiers chapitres m’ont fait penser à Aaron Schwartz, avec cette passion pour l’informatique et cette découverte enthousiasmante de l’Internet des années 1990, quand cet outil laissait espérer une utopie technologique au service du savoir et du partage.
La suite est évidemment plus sombre, avec cette plongée dans les coulisses de la CIA et de la NSA et leurs contingents de sous-traitants, faisant du renseignement américain un terrain de jeu géant et une poule aux œufs d’or pour des compagnies privées.
L’exil d’Edward Snowden à Hong Kong puis à Moscou, après avoir révélé au public les agissements de la NSA et du gouvernement américain, clôture ce récit qui serait incroyable et semblerait tiré d’un roman d’espionnage si nous ne …
Un témoignage passionnant du lanceur d’alerte Edward Snowden, qui a révélé au monde entier le programme illégal et anticonstitutionnel de surveillance de masse de la NSA cautionné par le gouvernement américain.
Les premiers chapitres m’ont fait penser à Aaron Schwartz, avec cette passion pour l’informatique et cette découverte enthousiasmante de l’Internet des années 1990, quand cet outil laissait espérer une utopie technologique au service du savoir et du partage.
La suite est évidemment plus sombre, avec cette plongée dans les coulisses de la CIA et de la NSA et leurs contingents de sous-traitants, faisant du renseignement américain un terrain de jeu géant et une poule aux œufs d’or pour des compagnies privées.
L’exil d’Edward Snowden à Hong Kong puis à Moscou, après avoir révélé au public les agissements de la NSA et du gouvernement américain, clôture ce récit qui serait incroyable et semblerait tiré d’un roman d’espionnage si nous ne savions pas qu’il s’agit de la réalité.
Ce n’est pas forcément une grande œuvre littéraire sur la forme, quoique j’ai été surpris par la qualité de l’écriture et par une dose d’humour bien senti, mais c’est un livre captivant et utile.
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