The USA is spying on us as shamelessly as China is always proclaimed to do.

Investigative Journalists and activists are prosecuted for their work as it is criticizing the current social power dynamics.

Demonizing whistleblowers as immoral is a strategy to discredit their credibility. However, these people probably act more moral than many other silent followers - morals and ideologies are the reasons for their leaks, for them speaking up.

Amy and I were going to have a bunch of friends over to our house today but we got rained out. So, I read Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State instead.

It was outstanding – 5 stars.

Let’s start with the punchline from Warren and Brandeis in their 1890 Harvard Law Review article The Right to Privacy where they assert that the right to privacy is primarily a “right to be left alone.”

Ponder that for a moment.

It’s a hot topic in my household since Amy did her thesis at Wellesley on the right to privacy. At the same time, I’ve been very open with my belief over the last decade that there is no more privacy, that the government tracks everything we do, and if you build your worldview around the notion that you have privacy, you are going to be disappointed. I guess I’ve been watching too much 24.

Now, this doesn’t mean I don’t think one should have a right to privacy. If I believed that, the philosophical arguments in our house would escalate dramatically. Rather, I gave up my own belief that I have privacy. And, I’ve felt for a long time that society is in a very unstable situation with regard to data, data privacy, and personal privacy. And I think this is going to get much, much worse as the machines further integrate themselves into everything we do.

So I view the problem of privacy at a meta-level. And as a result, I find books like Greenwald’s fascinating, powerful, and deeply insightful into the cause, effect, reaction, and second-order effect of humans trying to process what is going on, defend their position, and advance their perspective.

I thought Greenwald did a particularly good job of three things in this book:

Painting a clear picture of Snowden, his character, and Greenwald’s experience interacting with him.
Addressing the actions of the NSA that should cause outrage, or at least a deep, thoughtful conversation about what the appropriate boundaries for government surveillance in the United States.
Demonstrating the tactics of the US government, especially through media which is sympathetic to the US government, in shifting the story from the main event (the NSA disclosures) to a continual campaign of discrediting the participants (Snowden and Greenwald).
It doesn’t matter which side of the issue you are on. If you feel like calling Snowden, and possible Greenwald, a traitor, you should read this book carefully. If you believe they are whistleblowers, or even heroes, you should read this book carefully. If you believe the government never lies, or always lies, you should read this book carefully. If you believe journalists aren’t caught up in the game, are objective, and have integrity, you should read this book carefully.

I’ve felt for a long time that it’s a real cop-out to call Snowden a traitor or just react to the surface of what is going on here. There are some really profound forces at work that will impact the United States, our notion of democracy, and privacy, for many years. And the second order effects, including how other nations view the United States and the other four of the Five Eyes or the implications on global companies headquartered in the United States, will impact us for many years.

And, as a bonus, there are lots of revealing PowerPoint charts in the book from the NSA documents which, in addition to driving Snowden and Greenwald’s points home, demonstrate that the US Government needs some courses in making PowerPoint slides nicer.

Great content, though somewhat dry.

Maybe the most important story of recent times. Simply and succinctly, any thoughts of any electronic privacy that you might assume that you have in terms of internet traffic, social media, electronic banking, or anything else you do with almost any electronis device that you use, forget about it. It can, and probably has been at some point monitored and checked for any type of deviance from the so called norm. Scary beyond belief, and utterly shocking that the uproar around this massive loss of privacy and freedom has been so incredibly muted. There will come a time when we will look back and truly wonder how we could of allowed this insanity to overtake us. Apathy is the only answer, and we WILL be sorry!! 5 star story, 4 star book.

A must read for anyone who communicates with anyone, over the Internet or otherwise, ever. Great writing from Greenwald as he further explains how Snowden's leaks came to be in addition to what they meant.

If you're not outraged about the government's overreach and outright ignoring the 4th amendment, then you're not paying attention. (And I really wasn't paying attention until this book. I am going to play the baby card on the Snowden story - I didn't follow it and never caught up.) This is an awesome recap, told by the reporter who broke the story. Parts were straight out of a spy movie and parts were straight out of a dissertation on the role of the media. He makes a strong case against the government, in what felt like a non-partisan way (really blames both parties/administrations.) I kept thinking how everyone sees the 2nd amendment as untouchable and no one is even noticing the 4th amendment being flouted all over the place (the one that requires the police to get a warrant to search your stuff.)

Since I'm sure you're reading this, government, I'm pretty incensed about your surveillance.

This book had some great thought-provoking discussions of privacy, the media and it's role - and how it has been neutered in the recent past to be a government mouthpeice in many cases. I was blown away by the courage of Snowden and Greenwald; the whistle-blowing is not an easy act these days and they sacrificed a lot to tell this story.

Felt a bit thin, but you can't argue with the appeal of the story, and Greenwald is a decent writer. Will have to check out some of his other work. At least, until the government sends him to Gitmo.

I couldn't contain myself when I took possession of this book, the full story of Glenn Greenwald's encounter with Edward Snowden that led to the disclosure of documents about the NSA's surveillance of private citizens, both domestic and abroad. This was fascinating... shocking... thrilling... and even though it is heavily-laden with details about the many documents Snowden provided Greenwald and his editors at The Guardian, it was a page-turner.

Be warned: this book is not an easy read. Between the sheer volume of information about programs and the journalistic style of writing, I found it better suited for short sittings than long sessions. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed reading about the NSA's encroachment on our web-based metadata and personal information, but I am definitely glad I read it. If you are interested in our curious about NSA surveillance and its implications, this is a must-read.

Indrukwekkend, beangstigend maar glashelder opgeschreven.