Essay Questions

What is the importance of the NSA documents being revealed to the public?

The significance of Snowden's release of classified intelligence information is that he is revealing a misuse of power by the NSA. Snowden wants the American people to know the truth in order that they have the knowledge which will allow them to oppose this state power which has crossed the boundary of which it is meant to stay within. Without his releasing these documents, the NSA goes unchecked and privacy, which is a fundamental element of freedom, becomes a non-right to all those citizens who live in America because of freedom. Thus, if gone unchecked the NSA and other intelligence agencies in collaboration with the White House then is allowed to change the definitions of freedom in order to suit their agendas.

What is metadata and why is it important?

Metadata is a collection of linked information created from such sources as metro pass swipes, credit and debit card purchases, length of cell phone calls and to which numbers. The reason this metadata is important is that the NSA uses it as an aggregate that allows them to associate one person to particular behaviors and patterns of living, and combining that with metadata from other people allows them to connect one person to another based on location and potentially link specific people together for crimes committed, or any other potential "terrorist" threat to the US. The issue is that this metadata isn't surefire proof that anyone has committed a crime, but the NSA is using it in order to create leads and place citizens on their terror watch lists.

Why does Snowden get held up at the Russian Airport for 40 days?

Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong in order to seek asylum in Russia as the United States seeks to extradite him in order to try him for espionage. Snowden is able to get as far as the Russian airport, but his passport is canceled by the US, and because of this he is not able to enter Russia. The Russian airport is technically international territory so, he is able to stay there, but must do so for 40 days until he is granted temporary asylum from Russia in order to enter the country legally.