SVKM’S

NMIMS KIRIT P MEHTA SCHOOL OF LAW

A PROJECT SUBMITTED ON

EDWRAD JOSEPH SNOWDEN CASE STUDY

IN COMPLIANCE TO THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE MARKING SCHEME FOR

SEMESTER- VII,

ACADEMIC YEAR 2018-2019,

FOR THE SUBJECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

SUBMITTED TO - Asst. PROF. AFRIN KHAN

SUBMITTED BY - PRABHAT SINGH

ROLL NO -A051

COURSE -B.A.LL B (HONS)

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 INTRODUCTION

Edward Snowden is a 31 year old US citizen, former Intelligence Community officer and
whistleblower. The documents he revealed provided a vital public window into the NSA and its
international intelligence partners’ secret mass surveillance programs and capabilities. These
revelations generated unprecedented attention around the world on privacy intrusions and digital
security, leading to a global debate on the issue.

Snowden worked in various roles within the US Intelligence Community, including serving
undercover for the CIA overseas. He most recently worked as an infrastructure analyst at the
NSA, through a Booz Allen Hamilton contract, when he left his home and family in Hawaii to
blow the whistle in May 2013. After travelling to Hong Kong, Snowden revealed documents to
the American public on the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, which were shown to be
operating without any public oversight and outside the limits of the US Constitution. The US
government has charged Snowden with theft of government property, and two further charges
under the 1917 Espionage Act. Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

With the US pursuing his extradition, Snowden is now in Russia, where he was formally granted
three years’ residency from 1 August 2014, after a year of temporary asylum in Russia ended on
31st July 2014. Journalists continue to publish documents from Snowden that reveal the secret
and unaccountable systems of modern global surveillance.

The present paper will focus on the basic discovery that was made during the leak that was done
by Edward Snowden. It will also focus on the fact that what was the consequences of the leak on
different- 2 organizations in different ways and the consequence on Edward himself. It will also
talk about the fact that why Russia granted him asylum.

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 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND LITERATURE REVIEW

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Whether there was any kind of direct or indirect consequence of the leaked information.
2. Why Russia did granted asylum to Edward Snowden?

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras, Edward Snowden: the
whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations

The above mentioned article is the transcript version of the first interview that was given by
Edward Snowden in Hong Kong to The Guardian. In this he mentioned why he leaked the
information and why he wanted the information should be spread in America as well as
different-2 countries so that they can be aware about the malicious act that has been done by the
NSA. The article is well written and it talks about all the possible reasons why Edward did what
he did, as there is a paragraph were he says that I am not afraid of anything because this is the
choice that I have made.

2. Suné von Solms and Renier van Heerden, The Consequences of Edward Snowden
NSA Related Information Disclosure

The present article talks about the consequences that occurred after the information was leaked.
It covers all possible effects that can occur e.g. effect on United States or the countries that it is
associated with, effect on the commercial relations of the United States with different nations,
effect on United States foreign relations, effect on NSA as an organization, effect on Russia and
finally the main important point that what are the direct consequences of the act on Edward
Snowden.

Overall it is a well researched and a well written article which covers all the possible
consequences that the act can have.

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 LEAKED INFORMATIONS

During the time of his IT work, Snowden has noticed the far and far reach of the NSA’s
everyday surveillance. While working for Booz Allen, Snowden began copying top-secret NSA
documents, building a dossier on practices that he found invasive and disturbing. The documents
contained vast information on the NSA's domestic surveillance practices.

After he had compiled a large store of documents, Snowden told his NSA supervisor that he
needed a leave of absence for medical reasons, stating he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. On
May 20, 2013, Snowden took a flight to Hong Kong, China, where he remained as he
orchestrated a clandestine meeting with journalists from the U.K. publication The Guardianas
well as filmmaker Laura Poitras.1

During the interview he was asked a lot of questions regarding the leak, regarding spreading it to
various jurisdictions and regarding the fact that how was his life at NSA also the relationship
between the NSA and the internet companies and questions on the fact that why the auditing
were conducted by the NSA was wrong.

The major question that arose in every bodies mind is that how did Snowden accomplish his
Data Breach? The process that he did was very strategic and open to risk. He followed the
following procedure for getting the important information.

 Achieved Elevated Privileges and Access by getting colleagues to share their login
credentials
 Defeating security controls that were designed to compartmentalize data and data access
based on a need to know
 Intimate knowledge of systems, security management, and weaknesses in controls.
 Copied data to four Laptops – 1 TB each
 Communicated with Reporters starting in January 2013 via encrypted e-mails
 Left Hawaii to Hong Kong gave reporters key details

1
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras, Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA
surveillance revelations, The Guardian, Jun 11 2013, at Hong Kong

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  Left Hong Kong for asylum in Russia
 Communicating now via the Internet (e-mail, secure webcast, Twitter, Telepresence
Robot control, phone, etc.)

MAJOR DISCLOSURES MADE BY EDWARD SNOWDEN

 Many NSA Classified Programs e.g. PRISM, XKeyscore etc.

 Many GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) Classified Joint
Program.
 Spying on Americans.
 Spying on Allies.
 Spying on our “Enemies”.
 Spying on world leaders.
 Collection of text messages.
 Intercepting phone calls in two countries.
 Social Engineering and Discrediting Campaign Tactics.
 NSA working Microsoft, Google, Yahoo. Etc.
 Offensive and Defensive Cyber warfare activities and actors.
 Workings of the NSA and his job responsibilities.
 His philosophies and believes about the Government, surveillance, the Internet, and
personal freedoms.2

2
William Favre Slater, The Edward Snowden NSA Data Breach of 2013: How it happened, and its consequences and
implications for the U.S. and the IT Industry, IIT School of Applied Technology, 10-11 (Apr 10, 2014),
http://www.billslater.com/snowden/The_Edward_Snowden_2013_Data_Breach_by_W_F_Slater_for_Forensecure
_2014_v02.1_.pdf

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 CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISCLOSURE

This section briefly discusses the strain placed on the US as well as their foreign relationships
with various countries. This also includes reactions of several Technology Companies in the
USA. The incidents discussed are only a small selection and many more exist which can be
found in the Literature. Figure shows a graph obtained from Google trends showing the search
interest in Snowden and the NSA from June 2013 to October 2014.

Now we will discuss the consequence of the disclosure on different countries:

UNITED STATES

After Edward Snowden identified himself as the Guardian’s source for the leaked top-secret
documents regarding the NSA and its blanket surveillance programs, the public reaction was
mixed. Some hailed Snowden as a whistle-blower and a hero, while other considered him a
traitor.

A petition started on 9 June 2013 seeking the White House to offer Snowden ”a full, free, and
absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the
whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs” have reached over 150 000 signatures by May
2014 petitions.whitehouse.gov (2013). In addition, Snowden received a nomination for the Nobel

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Peace Prize, nominated by two Norwegian politicians for "contributing to transparency and
global stability by exposing a U.S. surveillance program”.

In contrast, the US government condemned his actions and called for prosecution. Democratic
Senator Dianne Feinstein stated that she does not see Snowden as a whistle-blower, but as a
person who violated his oath to defend the Constitution and therefore committed an act of
treason (Swanson 2013). The chairman of the House homeland security subcommittee, Peter
King, called for Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong and that no country must grant him
asylum due to the ”extraordinary consequence to American intelligence” (Borger & Ackerman
2013). A senior Obama administration official said that the United States wants Hong Kong to
extradite Edward Snowden and if Hong Kong does not act soon, it can complicate the bilateral
agreements between the US and Hong Kong.

Referring the Russian government as Snowden was contained in the International transit Lounge
in Moscow airport after leaving Hong Kong, Secretary of State John Kerry stated that it would
be ”very disappointing” if Snowden is not handed over to US authorities as requested. Kerry said
that although the US and Russia does not have a standard extradition treaty, it is an acceptable
request for Russia to expel Snowden to face charges in the US. Hours after the statement,
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Snowden was at the Moscow airport, but has
not committed any crimes in Russia and will not be contained by Russian authorities, despite the
warnings from the US government.

BRAZIL

The government of Brazil expressed its dissatisfaction after the Snowden disclosures showed that
the NSA targeted President Dilma Rousseff and her top advisors Romero & Archibold (2013).
She threatened to downgrade commercial ties with the US and cancel her state visit to the US
unless she receives a public apology.

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

GOOGLE, YAHOO, MICROSOFT

According to the documents released by Snowden, the NSA secretly intercepted data from
millions of Google and Yahoo user accounts through tapping communication links that connect

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Yahoo and Google data centers. The intercepted data included email metadata as well as text,
audio and video content.

David Drummond, the chief legal officer of Google expressed anger over the disclosures. He
stated that Google was concerned over the possibility of snooping and that Google have extended
encryption across more and more Google service platforms and links. Drummond stated that they
did not provide any government access to their systems and that they are outraged at the efforts
of the US government to intercept data from Google private networks. Yahoo stated that they
have strict controls for the protection of their security and data centers and that they have not
allowed access of these data centers to the NSA of any other government agency.

FOREIGN RELATIONSHIPS

RUSSIA

Russia has successfully used Snowden to paint the west as hypocritical. Snowden stated the
following while interviewing Vladimir Putin, Russia president, ”that these programs (NSA) are
ineffective in stopping terrorism. They also found that they unreasonably intrude into the private
lives of ordinary citizens”. Putin, in reply through a translator, stated: “Mr. Snowden, you are a
former agent, a spy, I used to be working for an intelligence service; we are going to talk one
professional language”. He continued, “Our intelligence efforts are strictly regulated by our law.
So our special forces can use special equipment as they intercept phone calls or follow someone
online. You have to get court permission to stalk a particular person. We don’t have mass system
of such interception. And according to our law it cannot exist”.

DIRECT CONSEQUENCES

EDWARD SNOWDEN

After leaving Hong Kong and in transit at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International airport, the US
revoked Snowden’s passport, leaving him stranded in the International transit Lounge as law
prevented Russia to allow Snowden to board an onward flight without a passport. After 39 days
at Moscow airport, Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia on 1 August 2013 for one
year allowing him to live and travel in Russia. Up to date, applications for political asylum to 27
different countries were made on Snowden’s behalf is reported that Venezuela and Nicaragua

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offered Snowden asylum and that Bolivia would also grant asylum to Snowden, if requested to
do so.

Currently, Snowden states that he cannot return to the US as the US government’s

Whistleblower Protection Act does not apply to him, as he was working as a contractor for the
government. His defense lawyer, Plato Cacheris, is in negotiations with the US in order for
Snowden to return home. But this seems unlikely to happen soon, as Snowden seeks leniency
due to the surveillance debate he has started, but US Prosecutors does not credit Snowden for the
surveillance debate. It is stated that leniency would only depend on the documents still in
Snowden’s possession that is not yet disclosed and his willingness to return these documents.

Sony Pictures is in the process of making a movie on the Snowden story Sony Acquires Movie
Rights to Edward Snowden Book ‘No Place to Hide’ For James Bond Producers (2014). It will
be based on Glenn Greenwald‘s upcoming book:”No Place To Hide: Edward Snowden, The
NSA, And The U.S. Surveillance State”.3

3
Suné von Solms and Renier van Heerden, The Consequences of Edward Snowden NSA Related Information
Disclosure, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa, 360-364 (Apr 15, 2015)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275019554_The_Consequences_of_Edward_Snowden_NSA_Related_I
nformation_Disclosures.

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 ASYLUM

Edward Snowden asked for asylum via Wiki Leaks editor Sarah Harrison, presented to the
consular department at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport requests for political asylum addressed
to 21 countries, including Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, Germany, India,
Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and
Venezuela, but majority of the countries rejected his plea tp grant the asylum because of United
States terror.

Russia granted Snowden a temporary asylum on July 31, 2013 for a temporary period of one
year which they extended afterwards until 2020. In his article i.e. Russian Federation: the
Snowden Decision, Alex Kerrigan mentioned the fact that Russia granted him asylum because of
many political reasons.

1. SNOWDEN AS A MEANS TO AN EXTRADITION TREATY

Putin and the Foreign Ministry’s statements suggest that Russia could be using Snowden as
leverage for the adoption of an extradition treaty. Recent history supports this theory. In 2009,
Russia urged the U.S. to sign a bilateral extradition agreement.4 Moreover, in 2012 Russia
revisited this proposal and suggested, at the very least, joining existing international
conventions.5 However, both these efforts failed. However, this explanation is not without faults.
Even if the United States did have an extradition agreement with Russia, it would likely contain
political crimes exception6, and such exceptions arguably include acts like those committed by
Snowden.7 Further, Russia itself would be able to determine whether his acts fall within the

4
Alexey Nikolsky, Russia Urges U.S. to Sign Bilateral Extradition Treaty, RIA NOVOSTI (Nov. 5, 2009, 10:00 AM),
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091105/156715699.html.
5
Alexander Utkin, Russia Proposes Bilateral Extradition Treaty with U.S., RIA NOVOSTI (Feb. 10, 2012, 6:42 PM),
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120210/171243300.html.
6
See, e.g., Treaty of Extradition, Surrender of Fugitive Offenders, U.S.-H.K., art. VI, Dec. 20, 1996, available at
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208059.pdf.
7
See Vincent Defabo, Terrorist or Revolutionary: The Development of the Political Offender Exception and Its
Effects on Defining Terrorism in International Law, 2 AM. U. NAT’L SECURITY L. BRIEF, 69, 76–77 (2012), available
at http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=nslb.

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scope of the exception. Thus, if a typical extradition treaty was adopted, Russia likely would still
have the option of retaining Snowden.

Both the U.S. and Russia are undoubtedly aware of this issue, which slightly undermines the
proposition that an extradition treaty is the motivation for Russia granting asylum. Given its
current advantageous legal position, Russia is unlikely to settle for a substandard extradition
treaty without provisions for political crimes. And the United States is unlikely to adopt an
extradition treaty that, by its terms, wouldn’t allow the U.S. to extradite Snowden. With these
considerations in mind, the extradition treaty theory becomes problematic.

Of course, the U.S. and Russia could always adopt a typical extradition treaty, and Russia could
hand over Snowden before (or in spite of) the implementation of the treaty’s political crimes
provision. This approach which would throw Snowden under the bus would give both parties
what they want.

2. SNOWDEN AS A POLITICAL PAWN

Another possible motive is that Putin is using Snowden as a pawn, allowing him to stay in Russia
on a year-to-year renewal basis until Snowden’s benefit outweighs his liability to U.S.-Russian
relations, or Washington offers some type of deal for turning him over.8 Snowden’s current
arrangement seems to support this hypothesis because he lacks legal grounds for any permanent
stay in the country. While Snowden may intend to stay in Russia as long as possible and
assimilate into Russian culture, Russia’s laws on asylum tend to tell a different story. Russia has
three options for asylum: political asylum, refugee status, and temporary asylum. 9 The option for
political asylum—the only permanent option—is likely precluded by provision 5 of the Russian
government’s resolution, which states that political asylum will not be granted to those who
come from a country with established democratic institutions in the protection of human rights.

8
See generally, Brian Fung, How Edward Snowden Became a Pawn in International Politics, WASH. POST (Aug. 7,
2013, 10:43 AM), http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/07/howedward-snowden-
became-a-pawn-in-international-politics/.
9
Tom Balmforth, Explainer: How Do You Get Asylum in Russia? RADIO FREE EUROPE (July 26, 2013),
http://www.rferl.org/content/explainer-russia-asylum/25057895.html.

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 CONCLUSION

The act that Edward Snowden did was something that would take a lot of courage for a anyone to
do at the first place because going against the superpower of the world i.e. USA is not something
easy. Considering the high value of the information that he has revealed and the abuse that he has
exposed Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and fight. The fact that we
all look at is that he has committed a crime. He may have committed a crime to provide those
information’s but in actuality he has done a great service to his country. I think this is the time
for the United States to offer him a plea bargain or some kind of mercy that would allow him to
return home. If not that they should allow him to face at least substantially reduced punishment
in light of his role as a whistle- blower, and have a hope of life advocating for better privacy of
the intelligence community.

His critics say Mr. Snowden has done profound damage to intelligence operations of the United
States, but none has presented the slightest proof that his disclosures really hurt the nation’s
security. Many of the mass-collection programs Mr. Snowden exposed would work just as well if
they were reduced in scope and brought under strict outside oversight, as the presidential panel
recommended.

When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law,
that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government. That’s why Rick
Ledgett, who leads the N.S.A.’s task force on the Snowden leaks, recently told the news that he
would consider amnesty if Mr. Snowden would stop any additional leaks. And it’s why President
should tell his aides to begin finding a way to end Mr. Snowden’s abuse and give him an
incentive to return home.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

 Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras, Edward Snowden: the
whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations
 http://www.billslater.com/snowden/The_Edward_Snowden_2013_Data_Breach_by_W_F
_Slater_for_Forensecure_2014_v02.1_.pdf
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275019554_The_Consequences_of_Edward_Sn
owden_NSA_Related_Information_Disclosures.
 http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091105/156715699.html.
 ] http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120210/171243300.html.
 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208059.pdf.
 http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=nslb.
 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/eric-holder-edward-snowden-plea-102530
 https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/06/11/in-nsa-leak-case-a-whistle-blower-
or-a-criminal/whistle-blowers-deserve-protection-not-prison
 https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/06/11/in-nsa-leak-case-a-whistle-blower-
or-a-criminal/edward-snowden-broke-the-law-and-should-be-prosecuted
 https://www.biography.com/people/edward-snowden-21262897
 http://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/38-Edward-Snowden-
Traitor-or-Hero.pdf
 https://blog.oup.com/2013/07/why-edward-snowden-never-had-a-right-to-asylum/
 https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/11/us/edward-snowden-fast-facts/index.html
 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/world/asia/hong-kong-edward-snowden-
refugees.html

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