Edward Snowden: The Ethics of Whistleblowing - The Future of Whistleblowing

In order to keep our government honest, it seems sensible to establish legal protections for whistleblowers. But would such legislation be toothless, given the government’s reach and power to coerce the actions of individuals? Here Snowden defends the idea that such protections are desirable. Reduced personal risk to individuals in a position to reveal wrongdoing will serve our aspirations for maximal transparency from government officials. Snowden goes on to describe a degree of disillusionment he and some of his colleagues experienced upon realizing that the NSA was collecting more information on American communications than Russian communications. Others in the NSA, however, seemed to regard constitutionally guaranteed rights (like due process) as justifiably suspended under certain circumstances.