NSA: Latest Snowden revelations damage U.S.

Former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden is proving to be a thorn in the side of America’s spy agencies. In May Snowden created a major stir when he leaked documents to the UK newspaper the Guardian, revealing the fact that the NSA regularly collects data from Verizon customers in the United States without a warrant. Last week Snowden leaked the details for the so-called black budget to the Washington Post, which detailed the $52.6 billion spent by the government every year on surveillance and intelligence.

The most recent leaks included information about how the NSA is able to penetrate internet encryption and security software, raising more concerns about online privacy and blanket surveillance on citizens not only in the United States but worldwide. Using back doors, super computers and secret court orders, spy agencies are able to get around practically any privacy software available to the public.

Now some working in the media and surveillance communities are saying Snowden has gone too far. On Friday, the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence Agency said that the ongoing media revelations will be damaging to national security and allied intelligence efforts, while refusing to confirm any details about its electronic information gathering.

After the initial leaks were revealed to the Guardian’s journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden fled, first hiding in a Hong Kong hotel and then staying in a Russian airport for a full month before being granted a one year asylum by President Vladimir Putin.

Already some of the information has caused a diplomatic quarrel with Brazil. When it came out that the NSA had intercepted phone calls of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, their Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo released an angry missive: “We’re going to talk with our partners, including developed and developing nations, to evaluate how they protect themselves and to see what joint measures could be taken in the face of this grave situation.” The black budget papers also made mention of American spying on allies such as Mexico and Israel.

While it is not known exactly how many classified documents Edward Snowden still has in store, more leaks are expected to come out soon. Both the New York Times and the independent reporting group ProPublica have several documents they are planning to release in the near future.