Read : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/sep/13/edward-snowden-interview-whistleblowing-russia-ai-permanent-record (Links to an external site.)

Read the following introduction and answer the questions. Then reply to one of your classmates’ answers with value-added replies (e.g., not just “I agree”):

Hi everyone, my name is Jiacheng Ding and for this week we will discuss whistleblowing. Whistleblowing is a topic of ongoing ethical debate. Leading arguments in the ideological camp that whistleblowing is ethical maintain that whistleblowing is a form of civil disobedience (Links to an external site.), and aims to protect the public from government wrongdoing. In the opposite camp, some see whistleblowing as unethical for breaching confidentiality, especially in industries that handle sensitive client or patient information.

Read the story of Edward Snowden and then respond to some initial questions:

1. After reading the article, what ethical motivation push Snowden to release these top-secret documents which reveal the extent of a global surveillance program carried out by US and British spy agencies? If you were him, will you take the same action? Do you think Snowden as a traitor or as a hero?
2. In the article, the author mentioned Global Surveillance Program. Will you sacrifice your privacy to exchange a safer society? Snowden describe these technology, policy and laws as American self-destruction. What has been destroyed? Do you agree with Snowden?
3. Snowden said “Governments and corporations feed on our ignorance. But now we know. People know now. People are still powerless to stop it, but we are trying.” What should we do to protect our benefits?

Then reply to one of your classmates’ answers with value-added replies (e.g., not just “I agree”):

Classmate Brendan:

1. I think Snowden viewed the actions of the NSA as completely unethical and felt compelled to speak out. In my mind, he’s absolutely a hero. I think government transparency is absolutely crucial in a free and democratic nation, and anyone who furthers that has my support. That being said, I’m not sure if Snowden knew just how terrible his personal consequences were going to be. There was a concern there for a period of time that he would be extradited to the US and face charges (he was jumping from country to country for a bit if i remember correctly). And no, I absolutely not would have taken the same action. I definitely give props to Snowden for what he did, because I can’t fathom the idea of giving up everything in my life — friends, family, where I live, etc.

2. No, I think the idea of a global surveillance program is horrifying… spying on your own citizens without their knolwedge is wrongful enough, let alone spying on people that aren’t even your citizens. I think the idea of sacrificing privacy in exchange for safety is only partly true. I think it can aid in investigations, but I disagree with the extent to which it is useful / necessary.

3. No, people aren’t trying. People get outraged about something for 10 minutes and then go back to what they were doing before. Human nature sucks sometimes. We know this because Julian Assange, who essentially has the same story as Edward Snowden but with different details, is sitting in a prison right now for whisteblowing / leaking documents and no one really cares. That being said, I will agree that people have a heightened sense of alertness for data collection/intrusion into privacy, and I think that’s represented in some of the recent privacy advancements we’ve seen from Apple, for example. But at a high level, I think people are not too concerned unless it directly affects them, unfortunately.