The Leak: Snowden and the Surveillance State

There is a leak that happened this week, and the leak is the story: the contractor who carried the documents out, the revelations of June 5 and June 6, the order that forced Verizon to surrender the call records of millions of Americans, the program called PRISM. The leak is the June 2013 moment: the Guardian and the Washington Post that published, the White House that defended, the world that argued. The leak is also the man: the 29 year old who named himself Edward Snowden from Hong Kong. The leak is the June 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the secrets that were kept, the trust that was broken, the debate that this week turned global.

The Leak is the subject of this article: the order, the program, the man, the companies, the government, and the lesson for leaders that this week has taught.

1. The Order and the Program

The order is the origin, and the origin is the phone: the court ruling that the Guardian published on June 5, the directive that required Verizon to hand over the call records of millions of Americans, the metadata that flowed by the billions. The order is the FISA fact: the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that signed it, the numbers that were listed, the calls that were logged, the content that was not included, the scale that stunned the readers. The order is the June 5 moment: the first revelation, the story that broke the silence, the secret that was kept.

The program is the partner, and the partner is PRISM: the Washington Post report of June 6, the story by Barton Gellman, the system that gave the National Security Agency direct access to the data of the internet's largest companies. The program is the June 6 fact: the access that began around 2007, the companies that were named, the accounts that were reached, the messages and the files that were collected. The order and the program are the pair: the phone records that were revealed first, the internet data that followed a day later, the two stories that became the leak.

2. The Man in Hong Kong

The man is the face, and the face is the interview: the video that the Guardian published on June 9, the hotel room in Hong Kong, the 29 year old who spoke softly into the camera, the name that he gave, Edward Snowden. The man is the biography: the former technical assistant at the Central Intelligence Agency, the contractor who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, the insider who decided to copy the documents. The man is the June 9 moment: the source who stepped out of the shadows, the whistleblower who named himself, the story that gained a human face.

The man is also the statement: the words that he chose, the conscience that he cited, the liberties that he said he was trying to protect. The man is the Hong Kong fact: the city where he fled with the documents, the place where he sat for the interview, the jurisdiction that became the question, the extradition that everyone began to discuss. The man is the dividing figure: the patriot to his supporters, the traitor to his critics, the 29 year old who changed the conversation. The man in Hong Kong is the center, and the center is the debate.

3. The Program Called PRISM

The program is the reach, and the reach is the data: the system that collected from Microsoft, from Yahoo, from Google, from Facebook, from PalTalk, from AOL, from Skype, from YouTube, from Apple. The program is the architecture: the direct access that the slides described, the servers that the agency reached, the accounts that were searched, the traffic that was copied, the collection that ran for years. The program is the scale: the companies that serve most of the world's internet, the users who number in the billions, the data that crosses the borders, the surveillance that this week became visible.

The program is also the question: the law that authorized it, the court that approved it, the secrecy that surrounded it, the companies that said they knew nothing of direct access. The program is the June 6 meaning: the story that followed the order, the revelation that made the leak a global event, the debate that moved from phone records to the internet itself. The program is the name that everyone knows, and the name is the symbol: PRISM, the window into the data, the prism that split the light of the internet into the colors of the surveillance state.

4. The Companies in the Middle

The companies are the witnesses, and the witnesses are the accused: the technology giants that were named in the slides, the firms that denied the direct access, the statements that followed the reports within hours. The companies are the June 2013 response: Google that denied the claims, Microsoft that demanded transparency, Facebook that asked for the same, the denials that collided with the documents. The companies are the awkward position: the servers that hold the world's data, the governments that demand it, the users who trust them. The companies are the corner, and the corner is the conflict, the squeeze between the state and the user.

The companies are also the demand: the transparency that they asked for, the permission that they sought to publish the government requests, the numbers that they wanted to reveal, the trust that they needed to rebuild. The companies are the middle ground: the firms that serve the customers and answer to the state, the businesses caught between the subpoena and the user, the platforms that became the battlefield. The companies in the middle are the waiting lesson, and the waiting is the tension between the market and the mandate, the two masters pulling in opposite directions. The wait is the standoff.

5. The Government's Defense

The government is the defender, and the defender is the argument: the programs that are lawful, the oversight that exists, the terrorists that are stopped, the attacks that are prevented. The government is the president: Barack Obama who said that you cannot have 100 percent security and then have 100 percent privacy, the tradeoff that he offered, the balance that he claimed. The government is the intelligence establishment: the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper who called Snowden a traitor, who defended the programs, who stood by the collection. The government is the posture, and the posture is the pushback.

The government is also the problem: the secrets that were kept from the public, the court that approved in secret, the Congress that was briefed in secret, the companies that were gagged. The government is the June 2013 response: the briefings that were held, the defenders on the airwaves, the assurances that the programs saved lives, the details that were not given. The government's defense is the counterweight, and the counterweight is the claim of security, and the claim of security is the oldest argument of the surveillance state. The government is the last line, and the last line is the law.

6. The Divided Public

The public is the jury, and the jury is divided: the polls that showed the split, the Americans who accepted the tradeoff, the Americans who rejected it, the opinions that shifted with each new detail. The public is the global crowd: the Europeans who worried about their data, the leaders who asked for explanations, the world that watched the American debate, the surveillance that crossed every border. The public is the June 2013 mood: the shock of the first stories, the questions without answers, the arguments that filled the air. The public is the audience, and the audience is the stake.

The public is also the personal: the phone user who wondered about the call records, the internet user who wondered about the servers, the citizen who wondered what the state knew, the ordinary person who became the subject of the story. The public is the divided meaning: the security that some demand, the privacy that others insist upon, the line that no one can draw, the balance that everyone claims. The divided public is the reality of this week, and the reality is the tension that will define the months ahead. The public is the question, and the question is the future.

7. The Whistleblower Question

The question is the naming, and the naming is the fight: the whistleblower that the advocates called him, the traitor that the officials called him, the hero that some protesters declared him, the felon others predicted. The question is the June 2013 divide: the privacy advocates who praised his conscience, the officials who condemned him, the public that could not agree on the word. The question is the man himself: the contractor who broke the rules, the insider who found the rules wrong, the 29 year old who accepted the consequences. The question is the label, and the label is the loyalty.

The question is also the law: the Espionage Act that hung over the case, the charges that everyone expected, the prosecution that had not yet been filed, the trial that the commentators imagined. The question is the Hong Kong pause: the man who waited in the hotel, the government that deliberated, the world that spoke of extradition, the weeks that would follow this one. The whistleblower question is the moral of the story, and the moral is the choice between the oath and the conscience, between the loyalty and the law. The question is the judgment, and the judgment is still out.

8. The Lesson for Leaders

The lesson is the trust, and the trust is the foundation: the government that lost the confidence of its people, the companies that lost the confidence of their users, the institutions that saw how fragile the faith was. The lesson is the secrecy: the programs that were built in the dark, the oversight that slept, the assumption that the public would never know, the assumption that this week collapsed. The lesson is the transparency: the leaders who explain, the institutions that open, the trust that is rebuilt only by daylight. The lesson is the light, and the light is the cure.

The lesson is also the future: the reform that will be demanded, the courts that will be questioned, the companies that will change, the laws that will be debated, the balance that will be redrawn. The leak is the June 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the order that was revealed, the program that was named, the man who spoke from Hong Kong, the companies that denied, the government that defended, the public that divided, the leaders who must choose between security and liberty. The lesson is the choice, and the choice is the leadership. The choice is the future.

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#technology #leadership