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Surveillance States

Edward Snowden

Chaired by Simon Longstaff

Thu 24 September 7:00pm FODI DIGITAL LIVE STREAM

Edward Snowden has been condemned as a traitor and celebrated as a patriot. In his mind, he is simply a man of good conscience who has followed in the footsteps of family members who have faithfully served the people and Constitution of the USA since the War of Independence. This was the motivation behind his revelation of US secrets. Governments are now armed with technology that enables them to pry into every aspect of our lives…all in the name of security. Snowden asks us to consider the possibility that we may have more to fear from our own governments than from any external threat – and that our liberties have already been lost.

This session is supported and inspired by Simon Mordant AM and Catriona Mordant AM.

Edward Snowden

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.

Simon Longstaff

For over 25 years, Simon Longstaff has been Executive Director of The Ethics Centre working across business, government and society to put ethics at the centre of our lives. Simon has a PhD in philosophy from Cambridge University and is an Honorary Professor at the ANU. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia and of the Royal Society of NSW. Simon co-founded the Festival of Dangerous Ideas with Richard Evans. He played a pivotal role in establishing the industry-led Banking and Finance Oath and ethics classes in primary schools. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013.

Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

Edward Snowden

@Snowden

We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country in which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.

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While we believe in freedom of speech, the views and opinions expressed by the speakers are not necessarily the views of The Ethics Centre and our partners.

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