On Sunday with a public chat, for his victory documentary CitizenFour at the Oscars, Edward Snowden took questions from the audience and revealed why he has regrets after his NSA leaks.
"I should have done it earlier," he said. “If I had done it earlier, these programs would have been less spread out.
"This is something we see in almost every area of it governments, not only in the area of national security:. Once the government is granted some new power or authority, it becomes exponentially more difficult to take it back.”
Ο Edward Snowden, along with CitizenFour director Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald, participated in a Reddit Q&A on Monday. Originally, Snowden had been expelled from Reddit because moderators thought it was a bogus account.
Privacy and surveillance could be a hot topic in the next presidential election, Snowden said, but only if people exercise pressure to politicians through activism. Governments only change when the people demand it.
"Our rights are not granted by governments because they are inherent in our nature, but this is completely the opposite for governments"
Greenwald pointed out that privacy legislation is supported by both sides of the political spectrum. Both Republicans and Democrats work together to legislate on the issue. But the leadership of both parties is always behind NSA's massive surveillance.
Laura Poitras, director of the documentary, said CitizenFour's reception was much better than expected, and that he plans more films to deepen Snowden's records and the ongoing fight for privacy.
He firmly denied the claims made by some in the US that Edward Snowden is a Russian spy, pointing out that it would not make sense. If he had worked for Putin's friends, he would not have published any of the leaked records, he would not originally go to Hong Kong, and would not need to stay for more than a month at a Moscow airport.
One of Edward Snowden's top questions was whether he was disappointed by the lack of public anger that his revelations about NSA's espionage activities caused. He replied that people obviously care about their privacy, but feel helpless, and said the technology community should make changes.
