Edward Snowden – Permanent Record (2019)

March 19, 2020

I’ve always had a lot of respect for Ed Snowden, and this account, not only of how the powers that be are watching us all, but of the personal journey through his entire life leading up to the point where he decided to spill the US Government’s secrets to us all, echoes that aching question that has always been in the back of my mind when it comes to Snowden. If in the same position as him, and faced with the same dilemma, would you have the guts to come forward?

Ed is a natural teacher. He takes pleasure in explaining impossibly technical systems in layman’s terms, and if you’ve spent any time at all watching his webcasts or online appearances, you will read this book and hear his voice in your head as you go along.

Permanent Record is a terrifying book. Googling some of the stuff talked about here will get put you on a list, so the man himself says. I wanted to pay for the book in cash at a bricks and mortar store, but my girlfriend bought this for me as a gift. In reality however, Permanent Record doesn’t tell us anything new or revolutionary about the surveillance systems that Snowden made public in 2013. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this autobiographical work, and I hope the years are kinder to Mr. Snowden than they are to a lot of other whistleblowers.