Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Book 2 of 100 of my 2021 Reading Challenge

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Where do I even start with this one? After reading Little Brother, I needed to read something about what MY government what actually doing to me. I thought I already knew about Edward Snowden, and how the Mass Surveillance Program (that the National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for) was secretly collecting mass amounts of data on U.S. citizens... Then I read Permanent Record.

If you are at all interested in privacy, please read this book. If you were to ask my wife, you’d know just how much I haven’t stopped talking about it. I've Googled almost every term he mentions in the book, and even ended up renting the documentary Citizenfour because I just can't get enough.

Edward Snowden was only 30 years old when the United Stated Government charged him with one felony of stealing government property, and two felonies under the Espionage Act... I am 30 right now!

After reading about the things he experienced and the tough choices he had to make, made me feel as though I was being put in his shoes.

privacy: [noun] the quality or state of being apart from company or observation : seclusion. freedom from unauthorized intrusion.

Permanent Record really makes you think about what the definition of privacy is, and what it means to you. My very own government had been collecting any and all information they could from phone calls, e-mails, text messages, and Google searches. You name it, and they were tracking it. They had been doing all of this without our knowledge, and most importantly, without our permission.

I really can't recommend this one enough. Go read it!


Here are some links if you're interested in some future research.. * Permanent Record by Edward Snowden * Edward Snowden's Wikipedia Article * Freedom of the Press Foundation * Citizenfour Film


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