Edward Snowden is an American IT professional and former contractor for the American National Security Agency (NSA). While working for the NSA, he found his employer’s practices unethical and disturbing. Realizing this, Snowden thought the world needed to know what the NSA was doing and decided to speak out. In the leaks, he revealed that the NSA was carrying out domestic surveillance which he said was an invasion of privacy.

The whistleblower had concerns for his safety, then fled to Hong Kong where he met a reporter from ‘The Guardian’. Shortly after meeting the journalist, he released his results, shocking the world and especially the United States. Currently, Snowden remains in Russia with his asylum extended until 2020. Now let’s see more about Snowden.

WDEN: EARLY CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

Edward Snowden was born on June 21, 1983 in North Carolina in the United States. He grew up in a family where everyone worked for the federal government to some degree. Snowden’s father was a Coast Guard and his mother was a deputy chief at the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Even his grandfather worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for several years. Snowden’s career choice was heavily influenced by his family and even from a young age he was certain he would serve the federal government at some point.

Snowden was a sharp kid and he didn’t let his parents’ split affect his academics. With an IQ of over 140, he continued to play with the top ranks in his school. Snowden, in tenth grade, stopped attending school because of mononucleosis. Despite his illness, young Snowden took the General Education Development (GED) test and did very well. For his next chapter, Edward continued to take classes at Anne Arundel Community College. Then, surprisingly, Snowden without completing his undergraduate degree joined the University of Liverpool for a master’s degree. During this period, Snowden found his passion for anime and the cultures of Japan and China. This very factor encouraged him to learn the Japanese and Chinese languages ​​and to

EDWARD SNOWDEN: CAREER AND LEAKS

Snowden began his career in 2005 as a security specialist for the Center for Advanced Security of Language at the University of Maryland. In 2006, he was hired by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia, as an IT professional. Working for the CIA, he discovered that the surveillance system had infiltrated the privacy of the general public and so began collecting documents. There were suspicions that he had broken into top classified documents and the NSA had to let him go. Snowden then joined Dell, in one of the NSA offices in Japan and worked as a contractor from 2009 to 2013.

Edward then moved to another technology company in Booz Allen Hamilton where he worked for three months. While working for the company, he became increasingly interested in the work of the NSA and their hidden files. Finally, he devised ways to break into the top secret vaults of the NSA system. He learned about the immoral and unethical practices of the NSA and thought it should be stopped immediately. Snowden wanted to educate people about the work the NSA was doing and began collecting a huge amount of information to prove his point.

After gathering all the required documents, he took time off from work and contacted a journalist from ‘The Guardian’ and a filmmaker Laura Poitras. They all met in a hotel in Hong Kong and in June 2013. Then the leaks were officially revealed by The Guardian. This report said that American phones were being tapped without their knowledge and that many of them were also being monitored. These reports shook the world and the NSA was bitter over its former employee who leaked this sensitive document.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: THE AFTERMATH

Edward remained adamant about the work he was doing and continued to speak to the Hong Kong media. He told everyone that he didn’t sit quietly when the public’s privacy was monitored every second of the day. According to Snowden, this violated the fundamental right to liberty. The US government has charged Snowden with “theft of government property” and “unlawful communication of intelligence information to an unauthorized person”, under the Espionage Act.

Snowden, for security reasons, left Hong Kong to seek asylum in Russia. He stayed at the airport for almost a month before the Russian government finally allowed him to stay. They succeeded in rejecting several US extradition requests. Back home, Snowden became a hero for his actions and millions of petitions were signed to bring him home free of all charges.

The controversial figure remains in exile and has lost billions of US dollars to the leaks. Snowden thinks he did all of this for the welfare of his country’s people and thinks he’s a patriot. Several human rights groups contacted the US government and asked for Snowden’s forgiveness. Even Edward himself had apologized to then-President Barack Obama, hoping that Obama would allow him to return to his country.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: PERSONAL LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Edward Snowden has been in a relationship with Lindsay Mills for a long time. However, Mills was left out when he had to move to Hong Kong to leak secret NSA files. They lived together in Hawaii and she didn’t know his plans or even where he was. However, Lindsay later joined Snowden in Russia and the couple have lived together ever since.

In 2014, Snowden helped create a documentary film about his life during the NSA leaks. The film was directed by Poitras and was critically acclaimed, and even won an Oscar. This followed several films and documentaries and now Snowden has achieved celebrity status across the world.

EDWARD SNOWDEN: WEALTH

The 35-year-old has enjoyed quite an illustrious career after bringing the work of his former employers to public attention. This helped him accumulate a fair amount of fame and fortune. Even while working with Dell, he received a career-high annual salary of $200,000. To date, estimates indicate that he has a net worth of $8.6 million. His other sources of income are television appearances, videos, donations, endorsements and funding from around the world.

Snowden currently lives in Russia and maintains a calm lifestyle, mainly because of his situation. Edward is available and most active on his Twitter where he goes by the @Snowden handle . He has over 3.8 million followers on the platform and publishes articles on morality issues.