To mark the one year anniversary since leaks about covert spying activities by the US National Security Agency (NSA) came to light, we highlight five learnings that have been made.
Yesterday, 5 June, marks one year since the Guardian newspaper (United Kingdom) reported that there had been a leak of classified United States (US) National Security Agency (NSA) documents, and by June 9, Edward Snowden’s identity, as the source of that leak, was revealed. In the time that has elapsed, there have been a raft of revelations on NSA surveillance activities worldwide, many of which might have given us cause to pause and think about the impact of the allegations that have been made.
For all intents and purposes, the dust has not truly settled on the extent of US surveillance activities within their jurisdiction, and internationally, as new reports and allegations are still coming to light. However, in recognition of the anniversary that is upon us, we are highlighting a few of our takeaways since the initial revelations were made.
1. One person can make a difference
To be clear, there have always been whistle-blowers – persons who inform on others or on organizations, especially regarding unlawful or immoral activities that might be occurring. In the US, many of the individuals who have reported against the government have been accused of divulging sensitive information, and frequently face criminal convictions on a wide variety of charges. However, in recent times, the entity that had been keeping governments honest was not an individual, per se, but rather an organisation: WikiLeaks. However, with the major crackdown on WikiLeaks that has occurred over the past two years or so, and though other similar functioning organisations have been created, there really has not been a recognised entity pulling back the curtain on classified and covert activities that might be occurring around us.
With the emergence of Edward Snowden – who is still alive, not in prison, and being hailed a hero and game-changer in many quarters – we are reminded that indeed, one person can make a difference. Having said this, Snowden has had to be smart, calculating, and have luck on his side, in order to navigate the minefield that has resulted. However, there may be some consensus that for his efforts, the world is a better place.
2. US relationships with some countries have been weakened
Following Snowden’s initial revelations that highlighted the extent of the NSA’s spying on US citizens, subsequent reports indicated that some of those activities extended internationally, and Internet and phone data of foreign citizens was being accessed (Source: O Globo). Further, countries such as Brazil, France and Germany, which are allies of the US, eventually discovered that the phones of senior government officials, including their heads of state, had been tapped (Source: The Washington Times).
Almost immediately thereafter, the US appeared to have a credibility problem. It had enjoyed close diplomatic ties with many countries, but those relationships had become strained by the covert activities conducted by the NSA. Moreover, in the aftermath, a United Nations resolution was being proposed by Brazil and Germany, with the support of 19 other countries, “to condemn ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘extra-territorial’ surveillance, and ensure ‘independent oversight’ of electronic monitoring” (Source: RT)
3. The Caribbean is not be immune to spying activities
Over the past month, and as reported in our article, Spying in the Caribbean: some thoughts and considerations, the Bahamas came under scrutiny, when it was revealed that the NSA has been “secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation” in that country (Source: The Intercept).
The alleged premise by the NSA for that degree of surveillance was to uncover “international narcotics traffickers and special-interest alien smugglers” (Source: ABC News). However, that objective might be equally, or even more applicable, to other Caribbean countries, and hence may suggest that other countries in the region might be subject to covert NSA activities.
Furthermore, the US is not the only country alleged to be spying in the Caribbean. There have been persistent claims that China, a close trading partner and large donor of aid in the region, has a very pervasive spying programme through computing devices manufactured in China (Source: Caribbean News Now).
4. Governments may be even less transparent that we had believed
Over the past year, and quite regularly, the US Government has been embarrassed by the NSA activities that have come to light. In the majority of instances, the arms of that government that are charged with overseeing the NSA, were not aware of the operations that the agency had been conducting, and the extent to which individual and diplomatic rights had been breached. However, though those activities were not officially sanctioned, they were being successfully implemented and were thriving.
According to Snowden in a TED interview he did in this past March, there are secret courts – that operate in the shadow of the public/open court system – that are partial to such covert activities:
And something that we’ve seen, something about the PRISM program that’s very concerning to me is, there’s been a talking point in the U.S. government where they’ve said 15 federal judges have reviewed these programs and found them to be lawful, but what they don’t tell you is those are secret judges in a secret court based on secret interpretations of law that’s considered 34,000 warrant requests over 33 years, and in 33 years only rejected 11 government requests. These aren’t the people that we want deciding what the role of corporate America in a free and open Internet should be.
5. We, as citizens of the world, ought to participate more actively in shaping our digital societies
The reverberations resulting from the documents leaked by Edward Snowden are likely to continue for years to come, especially since new revelations are still being released. More importantly, the entire experience has been emphasising the need for an increased and a more sustained focus and commitment by all of us, as stakeholders in the digital society, to contribute to shaping how it develops.
It must be emphasised that numerous organisations worldwide are charged with addressing specific Internet Governance (IG) issues. However, too frequently, their work can be perceived as being done in isolation and with very little direct input from those affected, i.e. all of us. On the other hand, how aware are we of key IG issues that are being debated, and have we been participating in the on-going discussions?
It must therefore not be lost on us, that when we do not participate, essentially we give others a free hand to successfully argue for matters that are solely in their best interest. However, as Snowden stressed in the TED interview, we need participate in creating a new paradigm, where we “encode our values not just in writing but in the structure of the Internet”.
What other things have you taken away from since learning about Ed Snowden, the NSA, and its activities?
Image credit: Adobe of Chaos (flickr)
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This saga will continue to pull out those who have been “swimming naked”. Just last week Vodafone revealed government agencies in several countries it operates use its network to eavesdrop and record customer calls..
I think point no. 4 is what could have led the CIA last week to jump onto Twitter too.
So how does this reflect on the internet governance being handed over to governments aren’t we going the wrong way here, from the perspective of restraining spying activities? But even worse, the censorship will be intensified as well
As Bob Marley put it “only your friend knows your secrets, so only he could reveal it”. We put some of our secrets in the hands of our friends, is the Government a friend can we trust them?. The bigger debate in my mind is whose interest is the Government acting in at any given time – it own or its citizens. How do we guarantee that Government acts in the in interest of the Public, we always speak of a greater good and that in some cases the greater good will demand subordination of individual privileges. The concern is whether there is a valid case for this subordination of right or privilege every time it is said to be so? That’s the issue.because given its resources and power Government can always remain intractable in its activities and violation of public trust whenever it chooses, because, “who can guards the guards?” Maybe the Press should do it?, Well then the response may be to set up a press unit that monitors the global surveillance activities of the Government same way they monitor the reporting and transparency of other events. Then maybe the public can place greater trust in the Press to protect their rights and privileges? It’s difficult, when you cannot easily identify the enemy as in the case of modern terrorism. Then revealing your capabilities and strategies becomes dangerous and can compromise your advantages in the end if too much is given away. The element of surprise that leads to victory lies in the level of unknown and uncertainty the opposition is made to face. So what is being done must be done behind closed doors, the key control is the calibre and trustworthiness and democracy that exists behind those doors. What people want is freedoms, freedoms demand security but security does not guarantee freedoms so giving up freedom in the name of security is deceptive, if not unacceptable. privacy is a subset of freedom but not its entirety in that sense we can compromise privacy for freedom but not for security. its a riddle of sorts, work it out..