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tzaeru t1_iujg77q wrote

He exposed the NSA, not the CIA. In any case, the people here saying that nothing whatsoever was done are making a huge disservice for everyone. By claiming this they are disincentivizing future whistleblowers.

Snowden's leaks led to the USA Freedom Act tightening some laws around using surveillance on American citizens.

The federal court also declared NSA's practices as illegal and possibly unconstitutional.

Snowden's leaks inspired the EU to make their surveillance laws tighter. Similar large scale surveillance is extremely unlikely to occur in any large European country, excluding Russia.

NSA was also required to delete a lot of the data they had gathered. Also, some of the data they gathered after that was made illegal to gather by them and they had to delete that later too.

Many of course hoped even more to come from Snowden's leaks, but honestly, the end result was a net positive. More whistleblowers like him need to come forward and we should encourage that by recognizing the good that came from Snowden's leaks.

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tpb772000 OP t1_iujgmvy wrote

The way he was treated it isnt very encouraging.

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tzaeru t1_iujhj6d wrote

No, it isn't, and it is a risk that major whistleblowers have to take.

In my opinion it's a shame that Russia was the logical safe target for Snowden instead of some other European country, who should have had his back given that it was unlikely that he would get a fair and just judicial treatment in USA. That is grounds for asylum. I'm irked at my own country not giving him an asylum when he applied for it.

Also a shame that USA still hasn't pardoned him. Some politicians and a few judges have suggested it, but seems to be too touchy for the clear majority of American decision-makers.

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tpb772000 OP t1_iujhq14 wrote

Now hes at ground 0 with Russia and Ukraine cause he tried to do the right thing.

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tzaeru t1_iujia3m wrote

Sometimes that happens when you try to do the right thing. Still, the world at large is a better place for all the individual people doing the right thing even when it means personal harm to themselves.

That said, at the moment far as I know Snowden is relatively safe, and there's still time for Biden or some high-enough court to pardon him.

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