Snowdon is a dummy

And are you sure you speak for all of Europe? After all, from what I have gathered the UK does as much spying as does the US.

Which brings me back to what Jane Holl Lute said about the different understandings of privacy in the USA and Europe ...

[...] Damals habe ich erkannt, dass es sehr verschiedene Ausgangspunkte bei der Definition von Privatsphäre gibt. Amerikaner und Europäer verstehen etwas anderes darunter. Für Amerikaner geht es darum, den Einfluss der Regierung auf das Privatleben zu beschränken. Für Europäer geht es um die Kontrolle ihrer persönlichen Daten. Das sind zwei unterschiedliche Herangehensweisen. [...]

Well then perhaps she should have since Britain is part of Europe and Britain spies as much as the USA does.

Well then perhaps she should have since Britain is part of Europe and Britain spies as much as the USA does.

The UK is a special case being in bed with the US far more then the rest of the EU for generations now.

[...]
A highly critical report by the Commons home affairs select committee published on Friday calls for a radical reform of the current system of oversight of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, arguing that the current system is so ineffective it is undermining the credibility of the intelligence agencies and parliament itself.

The MPs say the current system was designed in a pre-internet age when a person's word was accepted without question. "It is designed to scrutinise the work of George Smiley, not the 21st-century reality of the security and intelligence services," said committee chairman, Keith Vaz. "The agencies are at the cutting edge of sophistication and are owed an equally refined system of democratic scrutiny. It is an embarrassing indictment of our system that some in the media felt compelled to publish leaked information to ensure that matters were heard in parliament."
[...]
The committee also voices strong concerns that a data protection ruling by the European court of justice last month has left the legality of the bulk collection of communications data by the phone and internet companies in serious doubt. "It is essential that the legal position be resolved clearly and promptly," say the MPs, who reveal that the home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered urgent work into the ruling's full implications for the police and security services.

The MPs say they decided to look at the oversight of the intelligence agencies following the theft of a number of National Security Agency documents by Snowden in order to publicise the mass surveillance programmes run by a number of national intelligence agencies.

Their report says Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, responded to criticism of newspapers that decided to publish Snowden's disclosures, including the head of MI6's claim that it was "a gift to terrorists", by saying that the alternative would be that the next Snowden would just "dump the stuff on the internet".

The MPs say: "One of the reasons that Edward Snowden has cited for releasing the documents is that he believes the oversight of security and intelligence agencies is not effective. It is important to note that when we asked British civil servants – the national security adviser and the head of MI5 – to give evidence to us they refused. In contrast, Mr Rusbridger came before us and provided open and transparent evidence."

The report makes clear the intelligence chiefs should drop their boycott of wider parliamentary scrutiny. "Engagement with elected representatives is not, in itself, a danger to national security and to continue to insist so is hyperbole," it says.

But a move by Labour and Lib Dem MPs to congratulate the Guardian and other media outlets for "responsibly reporting" the disclosures – saying they had opened a "wide and international public debate" – was voted down by four Tory MPs.
[...]

The assumption of animosity between states is artificial and inhuman.

...it is my opinion that Snowden is NOT a dummy.

I have often wondered why he took the job of a NSA contractor with the views he has.

I wasn't nearly as shocked at the whole story as it seems most people were and I have never figured myself to be particularly clairvoyant.

revelette2 wrote:

I have often wondered why he took the job of a NSA contractor with the views he has.

before, He had been on Dell payroll after he signed from the CIA in February 2009. He was employed by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for the last in 2013.

revelette2 wrote:

I wasn't nearly as shocked at the whole story as it seems most people were and I have never figured myself to be particularly clairvoyant.

Perhaps we are just stupid here, and/or have an antique view of allies.

Perhaps we are just stupid here, and/or have an antique view of allies