Permanent Record

by Edward Snowden

Paperback, 339 pages

Published Sept. 17, 2019 by Picador.

(138 reviews)

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 …

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.

15 editions

irunonprivacy@bw.heraut.eu reviewed Mémoires Vives by Edward Snowden

Je ne le voyais pas si jeune

4 stars

Mon ressenti : ce livre conforte une croyance profonde que j'ai développée ces dernières années : voir la loi comme outil pour te rassurer que tout ira bien dans ta vie (parce que tu comprends, c'est validé par une loi), c'est comme te dire que signer un contrat va te protéger des abus de la personne en face de toi.

=> ça fonctionne que si tu as confiance en les personnes qui créent les lois (qu'elles vont veiller aux intérêts de la majorité et pas juste, disons, les riches, hein - merci les lobbys), et surtout que ces personnes les feront effectivement respecter, que ce soit auprès des organismes privés ou publics.

Les lois qui viennent légitimer les opérations de surveillance massive (localement ou non), on pourrait bien s'en passer, merci. Au mieux, elles empêchent rien à la surveillance (ce qui est un problème), au pire, nos impôts servent à …

Moyen non ?

irunonprivacy@bw.heraut.eu reviewed Mémoires Vives by Edward Snowden

Je ne le voyais pas si jeune

4 stars

Moyen non ?

Fabulousfabs reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Excellent !

5 stars

Wah, quelle claque ! C'était vraiment génial, pourtant je connaissais bien l'histoire, j'ai vu "Citizen Four" et "Snowden", mais ces mémoires le racontent telles qu'Edward Snowden les as vécus, de l'intérieur, avec souvent de l'introspection et quelques instants techniques ou contemplatifs. Je ne regrette pas une seule page passée en sa compagnie, il paraît que la traduction n'est pas excellente, je l'ai donc lu en VO. Je ne sais pas à quel point il a été aidé/relu/corrigé depuis son propre manuscrit, mais le style est très agréable à lire !

Wild Woila reviewed Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Serious gumption

3 stars

I also grew up in a government town in the early days of home computers & the internet. Perhaps if I had stumbled across hacking I'd have ended up in a similar role to him, though I doubt I'd have his gumption to expose the gross overreach of the security services. Their capability was (and remains) alarming.

Reading time 9 days, 37 pages/day

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ferlagod reviewed Vigilancia permanente by Edward Snowden

Muy interesante

4 stars

Content warning Posible Spoiler

“Vigilancia Permanente” es un libro que no sólo nos enseña sobre la importancia de la privacidad y la vigilancia en la era digital, sino que también nos recuerda la importancia de proteger nuestros datos personales. Es crucial que los ciudadanos tomen medidas para proteger su privacidad en línea, utilizando aplicaciones y programas de seguridad y optando por programas europeos en lugar de estadounidenses siempre que sea posible. Solo así podremos garantizar que nuestros derechos a la privacidad y la libertad en línea sean protegidos en el futuro.

marksutherland reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

It's very strange reading the biography of someone who's early life feels so similar to your own, that if you'd been born in a different place you might have faced the same decisions and moral quandaries. It raises the question: would I, could I have done the same thing? Or worse: should I?

Snowden's story is well known, but seeing the arc of his life laid out in his own words brings home the reality of it. He does a great job of showing how he ended up in the position he did, explaining the technology and culture of the IC as he goes along which helps provide context for the documents he eventually exposes. At the heart of it all is ultimately a love story between two millennial poster children.

An essential read for anyone who works in technology infrastructure or wants a relatable glimpse at the reality of …

Siddhartha Golu reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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.

Lars Henriksen reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Spændende og velskrevet.

Martijn Reintjes reviewed Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent Record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

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

Don reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book is fantastically written, really. The intelligence, humor, and descriptive power made this a page-turner. It was a great vehicle for the message that power inevitably serves itself first.

sajattack reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

5 stars for any book that mentions CHOPLIFTER!

James Cridland's reading reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This was a very good book, well worth a read. He's a good writer, explaining why he felt it worthwhile to leak what he did. I oddly felt less convinced about the rights or wrongs of his actions by the end of the book than I was before I'd started; but lots of parts that make you think, as well as some clever attempts to make things easy for the non-technical to understand. Certainly worthwhile.

Taylor reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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 …

fitx0 reviewed Vigilancia permanente by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Vigilancia permanente' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Si lo lees, la NSA te ficha.

brunosan reviewed Permanent record by Edward Snowden

Review of 'Permanent record' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

With the caveat that this is by necessity a one-sided story, it raises really good points and struggles. Very much worth the time to understand some far corners of patriotism, democracy, watching the watchers, ...