Edward Snowden has been called “The most wanted man in the world”. The U.S. computer professional achieved international fame after disclosing in June 2013 thousands of classified documents that he acquired while working as an NSA contractor. Edward’s leaked documents revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many of them run by the NSA and the Five Eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. A subject of controversy, Snowden has been variously called a hero, a whistleblower, a dissident, a patriot and a traitor. Like never before, his disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy. On June 9, four days after the press first exposed a secret NSA program based on his leaks, Edward Snowden made his identity public. On June 14, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Edward flew to Moscow, where he remained in the airport transit zone for 39 days, during which time he applied for asylum in 21 countries. On August 1, 2013, Russian authorities granted him asylum. He lives nowadays in an undisclosed location in Russia. (Source: Wikipedia.com)
