Ethical Issues about Edward Snowden Case free essay sample

Edward Snowden was seen as a trustworthy person by his peers and superiors. This trust was the major downfall of the NSA; because of this trust Snowden was given certain privileges which should not have been given to him. When this case broke many people were resolute that he was guilty, some thought that his actions were justified and others were simply on the fence. We need to ask the question was Edward Snowden really wrong in his actions? Why did he do it? Did he really betray his country? When it came to his realization that the NSA had systems in place to spy on citizens he became worried. The fact of privacy infringements was what worried Snowden. He did not want to sell government secrets but rather blow the whistle on what the NSA was secretly doing. Of course the government did not see it that way; they deemed him as a threat to the state. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Issues about Edward Snowden Case or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Though arguments can arise for both sides and yes he did essentially break the law by breaching the National Security Agency, Snowden was right in genuine thoughts which were that citizens assumed they had privacy. However, his course of action could have been better. If there was a whistle blowing system in place then he could have used that. Finding out this type of information can send anyone off their hinges which is why one can rationalize with Snowden to a point. The arguments made that he betrayed his country because he fled to Russia where he was granted temporary asylum is a good argument because it made him look guilty. However it could have been because he was in fear of his safety. He did make it clear that he did not want to expose the blueprints of the NSA system so that other countries can have better technology to spy on their people but just that he felt people had a right to know, which makes sense to the common man. But the truth of the matter is people panic and information like that being leaked can cause a frenzy which is the reason why the NSA did not release the information publicly. There are two sides to this story but both are understandable. Should he be punished for his actions? Some people say no, some say yes. It’s up to a jury of his peers to find which side they rationalize with more. The following are some ethical issues which arose from the Snowden case: 1) Claims that Snowden endangered the people’s lives How exactly did he endanger people’s lives? Did he reveal the names of undercover agents putting them in imminent danger? There was a case where a CIA Agent’s name was leaked to enemies by Lewis Libby who at the time was an aide to Vice President of USA, Dick Cheney. This was in no way comparable to what Snowden did but government officials try to place it in the same category. Snowden was adamant in his claim that his intentions were never to harm the United States but rather to make citizens aware that they were being monitored. 2) Snowden confirmed information already known. Most U. S. citizens believed that they were under surveillance even before Snowden leaked the information. Before the Snowden case, the Guardian newspaper reported that the NSA and Verizon had been collecting â€Å"meta-data† on citizens of the U. S. so finding out that the government had been spying on you shouldn’t have come as a shock to citizens. Snowden simply brought to light the situation and has done the citizens a favour. 3) Stealing is Stealing no matter what. People hold the belief that stealing is unacceptable and must be punished even in the service of a higher principle. There are two sides to the stealing theory. One can say that stealing documents to essentially protect citizens is punishable by law because it is still stealing however, stealing individuals private data (such as what the NSA has done) in violation of the U. S. constitution, can be seen as true treason.