In 2013 Edward Snowden, a former CIA contractor leaked information about government surveillance to the media. All information was given to The Guardian news source. The information reveals that NSA tapped into online programs like Google, and collected about 200 million SMS messages per day globally. Additionally, NSA had surveillance in multiple countries including China. Snowden also revealed that NSA had 35 world leaders phones monitored.

Snowden, deemed a traitor now living in Russia, has now been trying to be pardoned by President Obama before his term ends in November.

What should happen to Snowden? With Snowden’s recent contact with Obama, the President clearly states that Snowden should return to America and face his charges, which could result in up to 30 years in prison. Snowden, has always defended his actions as he wanted to release the information in order to shed light on what wrong was going on and hoped for immediate change.

Some Americans believe Snowden’s actions label him as a traitor. They express their concern for government security and say it has damaged the United States image and security. They express that he clearly broke the law and should pay for his crimes. But is it that simple?

Snowden explains he released the information in order to let the American people know their private information was being collected without cause or due process. He claims it benefited the country, as it increased awareness to violations against the US Constitution, but it caused backlash with other countries when they found out the US had hacking operations worldwide. This led to weakening our relationships with several countries. For example, France’s President, Francois Hollande expressed concern with the US when finding out about the millions of calls being monitored in France. When the information hit worldwide, it was found that German Chancellor Angela Merkel phone was bugged. Merkel wanted answers for why this had happened. Obama called Merkel apologizing for the situation and reassured her it wouldn’t happen in the future.

Before releasing the information Snowden claims he repeatedly expressed his concerns to the NSA about government surveillance, and they did nothing. Snowden said he reported some of the unlawful programs to at least ten direct officials, who took no action. The NSA denies this being true. After an investigation took place, there was no found evidence to support Snowden’s account of events. The NSA released emails supporting these findings, but Snowden says they’ve only released certain emails, not everything. Could the NSA be trying to only show some of the truth? Snowden claims there are more emails and he hopes they release the rest.

It has also changed our relationship with the American government. The Washington Post wrote an article that mentioned a survey in 2015 that a third of the people who knew about Snowden in the media, changed the way the used the internet. The article also mentioned that a 20 percent decrease occurred on views of wikipedia pages about terrorism. People should not be afraid of what they look at on the internet. Americans have this right. People should not be afraid of government surveillance.The American people own the government, not the other way around. Although it may not seem like a big deal compared to other current matters, it just shows that people should be free to search what they want on the internet and be able to communicate with others using technology without being spied on our Constitution states as much, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

There are definitely supporters as well, including the director of the movie Snowden, Oliver Stone. Human Right’s group even launched a campaign in trying to get Snowden Pardoned by Obama. They see the governments actions of spying on American citizens a clear violation of the fourth Amendment. NSA says their surveillance is to keep us safe from terrorists, but this age old debate has already been addressed, It’s freedom first then controls. The Pew Research Center wrote an article in 2014 saying 74% do not think they should give up their privacy in order to be become more safe from terrorist.

During the interview that occurred in Hong Kong after the immediate release of the information Snowden said, “I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things… I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded.” Snowden may have a point. Americans should have a right to know that they’re being monitored and, most likely, not legally. The information released showed the possibility of the NSA breaking several US privacy laws. A 2014 Spring Political Typology Survey showed that 54% of Republicans disagree with NSA surveillance and 42% approve. The democrats had a close call with 48% disapproving and 47% approving. Regardless though, of their opinions, our Constitution clearly states the privacy priority.

To some the situation is pretty black and white, but to others, like myself, it isn’t that easy. With the new film Snowden coming out, it may very well change our perspective on this. We will have to wait and see what Edward Snowden’s next steps will be.