Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant and whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and subcontractor. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy. In 2013, Snowden was hired by an NSA contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, after previous employment with Dell and the CIA. Snowden says he gradually became disillusioned with the programs with which he was involved, and that he tried to raise his ethical concerns through internal channels but was ignored. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Edward Snowden has received more than 37,399,120 page views. His biography is available in 88 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 86 in 2019). Edward Snowden is the 144th most popular social activist (down from 134th in 2019), the 1,475th most popular biography from United States (down from 1,400th in 2019) and the 16th most popular American Social Activist.

Edward Snowden is most famous for leaking classified information about the NSA's mass surveillance programs to the press.