Permanent Record

Edward Snowden

Sep 2019 · Sold by Metropolitan Books

About this ebook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it.

Spanning the bucolic Beltway suburbs of his childhood and the clandestine CIA and NSA postings of his adulthood, Permanent Record is the extraordinary account of a bright young man who grew up online—a man who became a spy, a whistleblower, and, in exile, the Internet’s conscience. Written with wit, grace, passion, and an unflinching candor, Permanent Record is a crucial memoir of our digital age and destined to be a classic.

Ratings and reviews

It's funny. In a weird twist Google books would let me read this cover to cover uninterrupted but crashes everytime I try to read Call Sign Chaos (a book by the Former Sec of Defense). Oh well. Anyways it's a good read. If you were alive and paying attention back around 2013, you got confirmation that the government was spying on everybody...which surprised pretty much nobody. This book pretty much tells you that guy's life story. You'll learn a few things you probably didn't know here and there, but this book is more of an interesting read than a source of dope on the government. He really doesn't rag on them too much. Pick it up if you're curious about this guys story and not too paranoid about being on a watchlist.

Ok, NSA, CIA, I enjoyed this eye opener- disclosure of how our "protective" government is abusing their power, and Invading our privacy. Water under the bridge, let ES return home, guilty of exposing your wrongdoings and sentenced as time served... If you have been to Russia, you know that sentencing is justified.

A well written page turner. If you have any interest in the CIA, spooks, or the surveillance state this is a must read. Deep insights into the intelligence community that can only be written by someone in exile.

About the author

Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and grew up in the shadow of Fort Meade. A systems engineer by training, he served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, and worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency. He has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Right Livelihood Award, the German Whistleblower Prize, the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal from the International League of Human Rights. Currently, he serves as president of the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.