Snowden leaks hurt US spying ability: NSA chief
The director of the US National Security Agency says Edward Snowden's revelations of surveillance techniques and capabilities have damaged the agency’s spying ability.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, began leaking classified NSA intelligence documents in June 2013, revealing the extent of the agency’s spying activities.
He leaked top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) monitor millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
"I would say that it has had a material impact in our ability to generate insights as to... what terrorist groups around the world are doing," Admiral Michael Rogers told a group gathered in Washington for a cybersecurity conference on Monday.
"Do you have new blind spots that you didn't have prior to the revelation," Rogers was asked.
"Have I lost capability that we had prior to the revelations? Yes," Rogers responded. "Anyone who thinks this has not had an impact I would say doesn't know what they're talking about."
Snowden, who lives in Russia where he has been granted asylum, has said that US government surveillance methods far surpass those of an ‘Orwellian’ state, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel “1984,” which describes a society where personal privacy is continuously invaded by spy agencies.
On Sunday night, a film about Snowden won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.
Accepting the award, Citizenfour director Laura Poitras, flanked by journalist and collaborator Glenn Greenwald, said, “The disclosures of Edward Snowden don’t only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself.”
Poitras expressed gratitude for the sacrifices Snowden has made as a result of his revelations, adding, “I share this award with Glenn Greenwald and the many other journalists who are taking risks to expose the truth.”
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