--- description: Edward Snowden has penned a new op-ed celebrating recent reforms of the National Security Administration. title: Edward Snowden: Privacy Remains 'Under Threat' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8498d04c257dfaf/6988532b06f2c15c1833a830/gettyimages-451142820.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Edward Snowden: Privacy Remains 'Under Threat' ## Video: Snowden Speaks: “There Are Some Things Worth Dying For” [Watch (HLS stream): Snowden Speaks: “There Are Some Things Worth Dying For”](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HEz0anrx.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2014-05-30. The man responsible for the largest security breach in U.S. history says he had no choice, and he did it for his country. Wednesday night’s broadcast on NBC marked the first interview by the now infamous NSA leaker with an American network._ by [Christopher Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Christopher Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2015 2:06 PM CUT  U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks to European officials via videoconference during a parliamentary hearing on improving the protection of whistleblowers, at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 24, 2014. U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks to European officials via videoconference during a parliamentary hearing on improving the protection of whistleblowers, at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 24, 2014.Frederick Florin—AFP/Getty Images by [Christopher Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Christopher Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2015 2:06 PM CUT Edward Snowden has penned a new op-ed celebrating recent reforms of the National Security Administration. President Barack Obama this week [signed into law](http://time.com/3906350/national-security-agency-phone-records/ "undefined") tighter restrictions for the agency, barring the organization from mass collection and storage of American phone records. Snowden, the man who revealed these practices to the public, [is in the _New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/opinion/edward-snowden-the-world-says-no-to-surveillance.html?smid=tw-nytimes&%5Fr=1 "undefined") Friday, celebrating the work of Congress and the President as a “profound” achievement, and “a historic victory for the rights of every citizen.” Still, Snowden believes surveillance reform has a long way to go. Here are some other choice quotes from the article: * Snowden had worried at one point that he might have, “put \[his\] privileged lives at risk for nothing — that the public would react with indifference, or practiced cynicism, to the revelations.” But the changes to the law have, in part, vindicated his decision to risk imprisonment by leaking classified information * He calls this weeks events, “only the latest product of a change in global awareness,” citing other events like The U.N. declaring “mass surveillance an unambiguous violation of human rights,” as evidence of a broader movement to curtail spying powers. * He also laments that there is more work to do. Writes Snowden: “the right to privacy . . . remains under threat. Some of the world’s most popular online services have been enlisted as partners in the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs, and technology companies are being pressured by governments around the world to work against their customers rather than for them.” Check out the [full article over at _The New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/opinion/edward-snowden-the-world-says-no-to-surveillance.html?smid=tw-nytimes&%5Fr=1 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910632/edward-snowden-privacy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910632/edward-snowden-privacy/"},"headline":"Edward Snowden: Privacy Remains 'Under Threat'","datePublished":"2015-06-05T14:06:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:05:38.911Z","description":"\"Technology companies are being pressured by governments around the world\"","url":"https://time.com/3910632/edward-snowden-privacy/","keywords":["Tech","NSA","Government","Edward Snowden","Phone","Security","Spying","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8498d04c257dfaf/6988532b06f2c15c1833a830/gettyimages-451142820.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Christopher Matthews / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8498d04c257dfaf/6988532b06f2c15c1833a830/gettyimages-451142820.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-US-EU-SURVEILLANCE-SNOWDEN","caption":"FRANCE-US-EU-SURVEILLANCE-SNOWDEN","creditText":"Frederick Florin—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910632/edward-snowden-privacy/","name":"Edward Snowden: Privacy Remains 'Under Threat'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Snowden Speaks: “There Are Some Things Worth Dying For”","description":"The man responsible for the largest security breach in U.S. history says he had no choice, and he did it for his country. 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