The Snowden effect: From governmentalized to privatized and commoditized

Please raise your hand if you are one of many concerned citizens when it comes to our government collecting and keeping your data without a warrant or any justification. Do you see my hand? I know I am a shorty, but it is up there; my hand. I assure you. In fact it has been there for a long time.

Now, please raise your hand if you are a citizen who is highly concerned about your data, personal and public, not only being taken and stored by our government, but also being accessed and stored by other private corporations, private individuals and their foreign lovers and contacts. Can you see my hand? I’m there- standing on my toes with my raised hand. How many other hands do you see; if any? Is yours up there?

Yes. I am livid. I am livid that our government is collecting our communications and information without any warrant or oversight. I am appalled by our government storing all our data in its massive database with zero oversight or accountability. It is frightening; truly. But let me tell you something: right now I am even more appalled and alarmed by individuals obtaining our data, commoditizing it, and handing it over to companies and individuals around the world.

Nine months ago I was one of many who thought we had a new whistleblower who had gone out on a limb to obtain a few documents in order to expose how our government has been violating our Constitution and rights with its illegal surveillance operations. Today, nine months after this individual came out publicly, sporting the title whistleblower, I am watching in horror a far more terrifying and outrageous plot unfolding before my own eyes.

When the story first broke I, among others, assumed that Edward Snowden had taken a few documents to illustrate the unconstitutional abuses and violations committed by the NSA.

Then, in July 2013, Greenwald told Der Spiegel he and Laura Poitras had each received a complete archive from Snowden which totaled 9,000–10,000 documents.

A few weeks later that same Glenn Greenwald told the Brazilian Senate that he possessed up to 20,000 documents.

Fast forward one month, and in its court statement over the temporary detention of David Miranda, the UK government said Miranda was carrying 58,000 documents which took up around 60 gigabytes of disk space.

And now, nine months later, we are told that Snowden is believed to have used web crawlers to access and obtain about 1.7 million documents.

First, the ever-changing story and document number establish Snowden and the involved so-called journalists as dishonest and liars. Oddly enough, no one in the mainstream media is calling them on the constantly changing and contradicting story line.

Second, it illustrates that there is no way these documents were obtained discreetly or with any due diligence. How could anyone suck up 1.7 million documents with a web crawler and claim that the act was performed ethically and with diligence? If the individual’s intention was to illustrate a case of clear and present unconstitutionality and criminality, why go suck up millions of documents indiscriminately? Why not care how many of those documents are on legitimate targets or investigations? Why not be wary of some of the documents containing private citizens’ private information?

Third, it shows a complete lack of responsibility for Snowden to carry with him around the world over one million indiscriminately obtained Top Secret documents. By his own admission Snowden used his own credit card and identity to travel to Hong Kong, and he remained there for almost three weeks while registered in a hotel under his own name, passport ID, and credit card number. What kind of individual would commit such an act while in possession of 1.7 million documents pertaining to Americans’ personal data, U.S. government intelligence, and even other nations’ proprietary information?

Fourth, much of the initial story was given glitzy attention based on the claim that Snowden had obtained these documents with one pure purpose: Making it all public for the public’s benefit and the people’s right to know. However, to date, after nine months into the story, the people have received less than 1% of the obtained documents.

Now, let’s talk about the entities who have been given these documents (the entire cache):

We know that Glenn Greenwald has been given the entire cache by Snowden. He has shrewdly enriched himself with the cache: from a seven-figure book deal to a movie deal and a new cushy venture with a billionaire boss. To read more about this Click Here . As you can see, having access to documents that purportedly contain our information, other nations’ information, and much information related to many corporations, were commoditized and utilized to obtain financial and career gains.

We know that Glenn Greenwald’s Brazilian boyfriend was given access to the entire cache by Edward Snowden as well. To read more about this Click Here

We know that film-maker Laura Poitras was given the Snowden Cache. She too has been rewarded with high-sums and a billionaire-sponsored lucrative career deal for the documents.

We know that other publications such as Washington Post and Guardian have been given a large share of these documents. Speaking of the Washington Post, another billionaire seems to be getting his money’s worth in this deal as well: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

Let’s recap it so far: Billionaire corporatists such as Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Bezos have access to Edward Snowden’s 1.7 million stolen documents. Several mainstream news corporations such as Guardian and the New York Times have their nice-size cache. A few ambitious and dollar-oriented American and foreign individuals have joint ownership of Edward Snowden’s stolen documents.

So let me ask you, it was horrible and scary enough to know that the United States Government was able to obtain and store our data. Please tell me how you feel about the fact that now, along with the U.S. government, billionaire corporatists such as PayPal’s Pierre Omidyar and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and dollar-hungry opportunist individuals such as Glenn Greenwald, Brazilian David Miranda and Laura Poitras, all have our data to do with as they wish?

Please don’t write off the value of Snowden’s cache to billionaire corporatists like Pierre Omidyar. Think about what he could do with all that info. Could he have an advantage over his competitors, considering that the NSA cache contains tons of documents on many major companies? You bet. Could he use some of the stolen data to blackmail his competitors here and abroad? Surely. Could he utilize Snowden’s stolen documents to blackmail and receive favors from the U.S. government? Of course. Now, do you see how $250 million may prove to be a small price to pay for what may gain billions for him? I am sure you do.

The lack of outrage and protest against the privatization and commoditization of the Snowden Cache may in fact pave the way for the government to do the exact same thing itself; directly- without middlemen such as Snowden and sleazy hungry journalists. Let me give you a few examples:

Texas DMV Sells Personal Information to Hundreds Of Companies; Drivers Not Allowed to Opt-Out

Legal Theft: Florida DMV Makes Millions Legally Selling Personal Information

DMV Wants to Market Drivers’ Records for Sale

That’s right. Let’s apply what opportunist journalists are doing here to our government. What if the government elects to sell a portion of its questionably obtained information from its citizens to major private corporations like Microsoft or PayPal or Amazon? Would you consider such an act outrageous and illegal? Okay. Then, why is it okay for a thief to obtain 1.7 million documents pertaining to our data, hand over that indiscriminately obtained data to a few greedy opportunists, and have those opportunists sell the data to mega corporations? Maybe this is what Snowden and his opportunist accomplices together with billionaire corporatist sugar daddies paved the way for: To kosher-ize privatization, commoditization and monetization of the people’s data by the government.

How is it that the majority of privacy activists are so alarmed and outraged at the idea of having our government collect and store our personal and business data, yet, these same individuals are not up-in-arms about that same data being commoditized and privatized and monetized by ruthless billionaires and greedy individuals? I don’t get it, do you? Is it a case of willful ignorance? Is it a case of blinded judgment brought on by glitzy publicity campaigns? Or is it a case of not seeing the forest for the trees? You tell me.

Related articles:

BFP Exclusive- Former CIA Officer & Whistleblower Frank Snepp Responds to Sibel Edmonds’ Article on Snowden-Greenwald

Thank You NSA, Snowden & the Media for Showing our Super-Ness in Something!

The Entire Snowden NSA Cache Exposed Once and for All

Part II: David Miranda’s Detainment: The Calico Kitten in Wag-The-Dog?

Part I: The Doomsday Insurance Cache That Was, and Then Never Was

Dear Mr. Snowden, It’s Time to Come Out & Take a Stand Publicly as to Your Intentions

Establishment-Made Heroes, Blind Seekers of Saviors & Suckers

Green-Light for Greenwald: Government Duplicity or Government Duality?

Greenwald-Omidyar Venture: Blurring Lines Between Being A Source & Being A Journalist

Greenwald Goes on Record: “I Don’t Doubt PayPal Cooperates with NSA!”

BFP Report- Omidyar’s PayPal Corporation Said To Be Implicated in Withheld NSA Documents

Checkbook Journalism & Leaking to the Highest Bidder

Sibel Edmonds is the Publisher & Editor of Boiling Frogs Post, where this article originally appeared, and the author of the Memoir Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story. She is the recipient of the 2006 PEN Newman’s Own First Amendment Award for her “commitment to preserving the free flow of information in the United States in a time of growing international isolation and increasing government secrecy” Ms. Edmonds has a MA in Public Policy and International Commerce from George Mason University, a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology from George Washington University.