The Guardian's top 100

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successful…

history". As a youngster, he spent days at a time "speaking to folks with all styles of views that i'dne'er have encountered on my own".

But he believed that the worth of the net, along side basic privacy, is being chop-chop destroyed byomnipresent police work. "I do not see myself as a hero," he said, "because what i am doing is self-interested: i do not need to measure in an exceedingly world wherever there isn't any privacy and so no space for intellectual exploration and creative thinking."

Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's police work web would shortly be irrevocable , hesame it absolutely was simply a matter of your time before he selected to act. "What they are doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said.

A matter of principle
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As robust as those beliefs ar, there still remains the question: why did he do it? jilting his freedom and a privileged lifestyle? "There ar additional vital things than cash. If I were impelled by cash, I may have sold-out these documents to any variety of states and gotten terribly made."

For him, it's a matter of principle. "The government has granted itself power it's not entitled to. there's no public oversight. The result's folks like myself have the latitude to travel additional than they're allowed to," he said.

His allegiance to net freedom is mirrored within the stickers on his laptop: "I support on-line Rights: Electronic Frontier Foundation," reads one. Another hails the web organisation providing namelessness, the Tor Project.

Asked by reporters to determine his credibleness to make sure he's not some creator, he set clean,while not hesitation, his personal details, from his social insurance variety to his Central Intelligence Agency ID and his terminated diplomatic passport. there's no trickiness. raise him regarding something in his personal life and he can answer.

He is quiet, smart, easy-going and unassertive. A master on computers, he appeared happiest once talking regarding the technical aspect of police work, at A level of detail apprehensible in all probability solely to fellow communication specialists. however he showed intense passion once talking regarding the worth of privacy and the way he felt it absolutely was being steady worn by the be-haviour of the intelligence services.

His manner was calm and relaxed however he has been intelligibly twitchy since he went intoconcealing, anticipating the play the edifice door. a hearth alarm burst. "That has not happened before," he said, revealing anxiety questioning if was real, a take a look at or a Central Intelligence Agency ploy to urge him out onto the road.

Strewn regarding the aspect of his bed ar his luggage, a plate with the remains of room-service breakfast, and a replica of Angler, the story of former vice-president Dick Cheney.

Ever since last week's news stories began to seem within the Guardian, Snowden has watchfully watched TV and browse the net to ascertain the consequences of his decisions. He appeared glad that the talk he longed to electrify was finally going down.

He lay, propped up against pillows, look CNN's Wolf Blitzer raise a discussion panel regarding government intrusion if that they had any plan WHO the source was. From 8,000 miles away, thesource looked on impassively, not even pampering in an exceedingly wry smile.

Snowden same that he admires each Ellsberg and Manning, however argues that there's one vitaldistinction between himself and also the army personal, whose trial coincidently began the week Snowden's leaks began to form news.

"I rigorously evaluated each single document I disclosed to make sure that was every  licitly within the public interest," he said. "There are all styles of documents that will have created an enormous impact that I did not flip over, as a result of harming folks is not my goal. Transparency is."

He intentionally selected, he said, to offer the documents to journalists whose judgment hetrustworthy regarding what ought to be public and what ought to stay hid.

As for his future, he's obscure. He hoped the promotional material the leaks have generated can supply him some protection, creating it "harder for them to urge dirty".

He views his best hope because the chance of asylum, with Iceland – with its name of a champion of net freedom – at the highest of his list. He is aware of that will prove would like u