Permanent Record

Thinking that he may pursue a teaching career in the future, Snowden keeps current with as much new technology as possible. He peruses the NSA “readboards,” the Agency’s internal updates on new and exciting tech. He turns the project—with his boss’s permission—into an automated system that collates all relevant and interesting updates for internal use, taking files from the CIA, the FBI, and other agencies, filtering the content by clearance level, and storing all of the data on one of Snowden’s NSA servers. Snowden names the system Heartbeat, as it takes “the pulse of the NSA and of the wider IC” (175).

Heartbeat shows Snowden not only the goals but also the capabilities of the intelligence agencies, and it gathers the majority of the documents that he would later leak to the press. He has less interest in whom the system is targeting than in how the system targets these people. The broadness of the intelligence agencies’ scope, achieved with what he views as absurd and unconstitutional interpretations of existing laws, empowers them to surveil any person at any time, collecting data in case it is needed in the future.

Snowden first uncovers the two systems agencies use for mass data collection: PRISM, which collects and stores data from major tech companies (email, photos, web history, and much more); and upstream collection, which harvests data directly from private-sector internet infrastructure (cables, satellites, and routers). Next, Snowden learns how this collection system actually works, studying schematics and engineering diagrams. These visuals provide concrete proof that the systems exist and that the intelligence community uses them. 

On Constitution Day in 2012, Snowden celebrates by reading the small laminated copies of the Constitution that the NSA hands out. He does this partly because he appreciates the document and partly “because it freaked out my coworkers” (181). He notes that many protections in the Bill of Rights are designed to make law enforcement more difficult, particularly the Fourth Amendment, which protects people and their property from government scrutiny.

Before law enforcement searches a person or their property, the Fourth Amendment requires authorities to establish probable cause. The NSA’s mass surveillance, by collecting data on everyone whether or not probable cause exists, completely contradicts this. For a long time, the NSA simply has denied that mass surveillance exists. Any attempts to challenge mass surveillance in the courts are—to Snowden’s disgust—dismissed out of hand. The intelligence agencies, he decides, believe themselves to be “above the law, and given how broken the process was, they were right” (184). They have hacked the Constitution, and Snowden sees this as a massive failure of the governance and a betrayal of the Constitution’s founding ideals.

Snowden notes that the United States of America was birthed from an act of treason: The Declaration of Independence violated British law. During the Revolutionary War, sailors aboard a ship became America’s first whistleblowers, reporting on their Commodore’s abusive nature. The aftermath, in effect, created the first whistleblower protection laws. By late 2012, Snowden has resolved to become a whistleblower himself. He decides previous experiences raising issues up the chain of command—back at the Comfort Inn—have demonstrated that this is not an option: Those above him are complicit. He considers the etymology of the word “whistleblower” and the difference between whistleblowing, which intends to expose wrongdoing, and leaks, which are typically conducted for institutional or political aims. Snowden intends to go even a step further: an exposure of the entire apparatus of mass surveillance. 

Even after deciding to become a whistleblower, Snowden struggles with how to tell Lindsay. Alone in his silence, he fears being both doubted and misunderstood, so he resolves to leak documentation as proof. Disclosing even a single document may land him in prison. He needs to publish them through a trusted institution to have the biggest impact. He considers Wikileaks, but their approach has changed in the wake of the Chelsea Manning leaks; they do not suit Snowden’s needs. He wants to provide context and analysis alongside the leaked information rather than just dumping everything online. He considers The New York Times but feels they have a checkered history of publishing such information.

As he considers his options, two huge events seem to pass by unnoticed. First, the NSA announces the construction of a huge new data center. Second, in March 2013, the chief technology officer of the CIA makes a rare public appearance, in which he reveals a new cloud computing contract awarded to Amazon and mentions that “it is nearly within our grasp to compute on all human-generated information” (196). Snowden views this as an admission of the intention behind mass surveillance, an admission that the media barely reports. Snowden realizes that he will have to educate journalists on the importance and the gravity of the information he intends to release, and he will need to speak with trustworthy and capable reporters.

Snowden searches for “journalists whom the national security state had already targeted” (198), something that he believes turns the state’s own systems against it. He finds Laura Poitras, a documentarian, and Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer turned columnist. Later, he works with Ewen MacAskill and Bart Gellman, journalists at The Guardian and the Washington Post, respectively. Snowden contacts the journalists using a variety of aliases, though retaining anonymity is incredibly hard. He drives in his car and searches for Wi-Fi networks using a special Linux operating system on a laptop. He hijacks other people’s networks and uses them to send encrypted emails. Occasionally, he has to show the journalists how to use this technology. He drafts long explanations for his actions but deletes them quickly, struggling to find the right words. 

Snowden puts together a three-step plan: read, write, execute. He needs to extract all of the data from the intelligence servers without being caught. Everything done on a computer leaves a record, so Snowden exploits the complexity of systems, assuming NSA workers do not comprehend the true functionality or the limits of the systems.

By now, system administrators have become used to seeing Heartbeat on their logs and it becomes “the perfect cover” (203). Snowden still needs to read and store these documents, so he can copy and extract them. He sets up an old computer under the guise of compatibility testing, which enables him to search, filter, and organize all the documents he wants. He organizes the documents neatly into folders, thus completing the “read” phase.

The “write” phase involves copying and preparing all files for extraction. Snowden declines to actually detail how he does this but does reveal that he used mini- and micro-SD cards. He smuggles these into the facility (in his mouth or his sock) and slowly transfers every file; he also deduplicates, compresses, and encrypts the files. To fill a card could take an entire shift, and “those hours were terrifying” (205).

The final phase is “execute”: smuggling the data out of the facility. All the time spent studying the NSA’s systems has given Snowden a better understanding of how not to get caught. He uses Rubik’s cubes, first to help smuggle in the SD cards and then as a conversation starter with the guards, distracting them from his nervousness. Once home, he transfers all the files to an external storage device. He knows that, once released, the documents will expose his identity, and he accepts his fate. 

Toward the end of 2012, global events reinforce Snowden’s decision. He concludes that governments are expanding attempts to mass surveil their populations, and he no longer believes that there can be a natural alliance between government and technology.

Snowden teaches free cryptography classes in Honolulu, coaching people of the values of encryption. Teaching a general audience, he hopes, will prepare him to explain mass surveillance to journalists.

Deletion of digital files does not truly exist. A deleted file is not necessarily eliminated; it’s merely gone from view, hidden from parties who do not know where to look. While deletion is difficult, he tells the attendees at CryptoParty, encryption should be ubiquitous, as it is the “the only true protection against surveillance” (213). Snowden praises the value of encryption, which can hamper the government’s ability to surveil a population. The files that he has stolen from the NSA are so well encrypted as to be impenetrable; he has kept a piece of the encryption key for himself, ensuring that—if something were to happen to him—he can eliminate access to these secrets forever. 

Snowden reflects on his career, an astronomical rise from quiet, computer-obsessed kid to wealthy intelligence officer who develops global systems. His level of access was “unexpectedly omniscient.” But one question eludes him: Is there any single person who could not be surveilled by the machines? To find the answer, he turns to XKEYSCORE, a searchable database which functions as a Google for collected private data. He applies for a job in one of the offices with unfettered access to XKEYSCORE, the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC). This building also houses the NSA’s hacking team, the Tailored Access Operations division.

The change in jobs requires a trip to Washington, D.C., returning to Fort Meade as an insider. He learns everything he can from the NTOC team. He learns that XKEYSCORE is the widest-ranging tool at the NSA’s disposal, used to search through everything a person does on the internet. It allows the NSA to read emails, browser histories, social media, and can even play back recordings of screens in certain instances. Snowden witnesses the privacy abuses described in the documentation firsthand. He learns that everyone’s communications are in the systems. In addition to searching Supreme Court justices and congresspeople, his colleagues also search for LOVEINT: They surveil current and former lovers using the NSA systems. The workers swap intercepted nude photographs, knowing that they will never be prosecuted in any meaningful sense.

One communication in particular captures Snowden’s attention. He is the son of an engineer, a man who happens to be a target. Snowden searches through the man’s email, pictures, and location history. One video recording shows the man sitting at his computer with a baby boy in his lap; the boy looks directly at the camera, causing Snowden to step back from the computer in shock. He thinks of his own father, whom he realizes he may never see again.

Snowden returns to Hawaii, infused with a sense of finality. He empties his bank accounts, withdrawing the cash so that it’s ready for Lindsay to use. He completes household chores and erases his old computers. He searches for a country to which he can flee, where he can meet the journalists without fear of being caught and deported. The only option is Hong Kong, the closest he can “get to no-man’s-land, but with a vibrant media and protest culture, not to mention largely unfiltered internet” (223).

The morning before he leaves, he wakes up beside Lindsay. He hugs her, apologizes for his busyness, and tells her how much she means to him. As soon as she leaves for a camping trip, he cries. He has invited his mother to visit in the hope that, when his actions are revealed, she and Lindsay will take care of one another. He takes a medical leave of absence from work, packs his bag (including four laptops), and leaves his phone behind with a note explaining that he has been called away on work. He buys a cash ticket to Tokyo and then flies from Tokyo to Hong Kong. 

Snowden arrives in Hong Kong undetected, but the journalists he has asked to meet keep postponing. Laura Poitras struggles to convince Glenn Greenwald to commit to the meeting, and Snowden begins to worry. He stays in his hotel room for 10 days, using that time to prepare “the last briefing [he’d] ever give” (226). He has to not only explain mass surveillance but also why he has decided to act.

Glenn and Laura arrive on June 2. Glenn struggles to understand why someone so young would have access to such information and would be willing to throw their life away. As they set up—Glenn is ordered to put his smartphone in the mini-fridge—Laura begins to film, and Snowden suddenly becomes self-conscious. He stiffens, regretting his choice of clothes and his decision not to shave, but eventually, he comes to see the film as an essential component of what will become the leaks. He spends a week with Glenn and Laura, going over everything in minute detail, joined later in the second day by Ewen MacAskill. Although the days are frantic, the nights are dull and lonely.

The first story breaks on June 5 and Snowden watches the reaction on the news channels. Snowden’s office begins to email him. He does not answer. From his perspective, the entire US intelligence network is devoted to finding the whistleblower, with the aim of impugning his or her credibility. Snowden decides to seize the initiative and explain to the world why he has acted. Laura films him making a statement directly to the camera.

Snowden has given little thought to what happens next, but he knows that returning to America in the hope of a fair trial is out of the question. After June 9, when the video confession is posted, Snowden has “a target on [his] back” (230). All he can do is hope that his fellow Americans will be able to understand his actions—and how important he feels they are—as he trusts his family and Lindsay to do.

Glenn’s contacts help relocate Snowden, but journalists discover his location and lay siege. He stays with a kind, welcoming refugee family in one of the Hong Kong’s poorest districts. On June 14, the US government files charges against Snowden under the Espionage Act; on June 21—Snowden’s 30th birthday—the US government requests his extradition. When the Hong Kong government informs him that they will not protect him, he starts to search for a new home. 

Ecuador, the country that provided asylum to Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, first appears to be Snowden’s most viable option. Most countries refuse to offer him asylum, unwilling to defy an American extradition order.

Sarah Harrison, journalist and editor from WikiLeaks, arrives in Hong Kong to help Snowden find asylum. Snowden has little choice but to trust Sarah, and she impresses him. She secures a laissez-passer, a UN-sanctioned pass that helps Snowden avoid extradition while he travels from Hong Kong to Quito, via Moscow, Havana, and Caracas. The convoluted route means avoiding US airspace but not NATO airspace. Snowden sits next to Sarah on the first flight.

The first stop in Russia is a 20-hour layover; it has since lasted six years. At passport control, Snowden is stopped due to a “problem with passport” (239). He and Sarah are taken to the business lounge, where an FSB agent waits for them. The man offers Snowden the chance to work for the Russian government. Snowden cuts him short, explaining that he does not intend to work for any intelligence service. The agent reveals that Snowden’s passport has been invalidated, making the rest of his trip impossible. Sarah double-checks this news and confirms it: Snowden’s own government has trapped him in Russia.

The agent points to a scrum of journalists who have been alerted to the story and makes his offer again; Snowden refuses again. The agent leaves, trapping Snowden in the airport for 40 days while he desperately applies for asylum in other countries. His presence in the airport becomes “a global spectacle” (242) and, to put an end to the situation, Russia grants Snowden temporary asylum. Sarah departs, leaving a forever-grateful Snowden behind. 

As Snowden deals with his multitude of issues, Lindsay faces her own difficulties, throughout which she keeps a diary. In the first entry, she describes her (and his mother’s) annoyance at Snowden for inviting his mother and then leaving. She finds a string of missed calls on her phone, one from Hong Kong. Over the coming days, Snowden’s mother, Wendy, asks about her son’s health, and she and Lindsay spend time together—and cry together. Lindsay worries that Edward is having an affair. Lindsay takes Wendy to the airport on her last day.

On June 7, Lindsay is awoken by a call from the NSA, inquiring about Snowden. She returns home from an errand to find government agents near her home, so she does not stop. Later, she returns home and they knock on her door. They ask about her boyfriend and search her house, which frightens her. The next day, Lindsay flies to her parents’ home to be with a friend. She feels extremely paranoid and, when her friend asks about her relationship with Snowden, she does not know whether they’re still together. On June 9, a friend calls and tells her about Snowden’s video. She watches it and then attends a barbecue, but she cannot think about anything else. Her phone keeps ringing. Her car is tailed.

The FBI calls Lindsay; her friend helps her connect with a lawyer named Jerry Farber. She buys burner phones and withdraws as much money as she can—her entire life savings. At her friend’s house, they use hair dryers to make noise while they talk to one another. She goes for a meeting with the FBI and cannot evade the car that follows her.

FBI agents meet Lindsay at Jerry’s office. Jerry tells her never to lie and to let him talk when she does not know an answer. The interrogation lasts into the night and leaves Lindsay feeling exhausted. She knows there will be more to come. Her dinner with friends is interrupted by more agents, who tell her that they will surveil her for the foreseeable future and warn her against erratic driving.

Lindsay resumes her diary after a few days. She is furious; endless surveillance and interrogation have taken their toll. As the country begins to realize how little privacy they ever had, Lindsay’s personal invasion of privacy reaches “a whole new level” (250). She sees herself on the news and Googles herself; the comments are not kind. Eventually, FBI agents stop interrogating her but continue to follow her. She talks to Wendy, and they agree that Snowden did the right thing, even if they feel hurt. Even as they talk, they realize that agents are likely eavesdropping.

Lindsay flies back to Hawaii, where the FBI frequently interrupts her as she begins to pack up everything in the house. She sells many possessions and ships the remainder back to the mainland on July 2. Snowden’s few remaining possessions fit into a small box, and Lindsay burns them all. 

Snowden describes how—if the reader has searched online for any of the technical terms in this book—they are now “in the system” (253). Even reading this book might be enough to flag the attention of the intelligence networks. This, he says, is only the beginning. The intelligence community can actively monitor the reading of a book. They can monitor the screen, in real time, of those who are reading on a phone or tablet; as such, the reader’s life “has now become an open book” (254).

Snowden has blown the whistle, as he intended, but he feels awareness is not enough. His document leaks inspire congressional investigations into the NSA, which conclude that the agency has repeatedly lied. In 2015, the NSA’s mass surveillance is deemed unconstitutional; legislation is changed, and precedents are set. As technology has advanced, the internet has become more secure and encrypted than ever; Snowden himself has assisted in some of these changes. 

The disclosed documents spark an international debate about surveillance. Germans, Snowden notes, were appalled to note the degree to which the NSA had surveilled them, including their chancellor, though their own intelligence agency has collaborated with the NSA on numerous operations. The debate repeats itself all over the world: outraged citizens versus collaborator government. Although the EU makes efforts to establish whistleblower protections as well as a framework for privacy protection, data protection and privacy remain global concerns. Snowden looks to the new generation, those who not yet born on 9/11, and hopes they will champion privacy.

Snowden now lives in exile, a term he once used to use to describe getting kicked off the computer by his parents. These days, he spends a lot of time in front of a computer but away from his home country. He speaks via video chat to civil liberty conferences. He runs the Freedom of the Press Foundation and talks to his legal team. In 2014, he sees Lindsay for the first time since he left. They explore Russia together as tourists. He changes his appearance often. Lindsay’s Russian is better than Snowden’s attempts. As of the end of the book, they are celebrating their two-year wedding anniversary.