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No Question: Snowden Was 2013's Most Influential Tech Figure
Nerval's Lobster writes "Lots of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and developers made headlines in 2013—but in hindsight, Edward Snowden will likely stand as this year's most influential figure in technology. In June, Snowden began feeding top-secret documents detailing the National Security Agency's surveillance programs to The Guardian and other newspapers. Much of that information, downloaded by Snowden while he served as a system administrator at an NSA outpost in Hawaii, suggested that the U.S. government swept up massive amounts of information on ordinary Americans as part of its broader operations. Whatever one's feelings on the debate over privacy and security, it's undeniable that Snowden's documents have increased general awareness of online vulnerability; but whether that's sparked an increased use of countermeasures—including encryption tools—is another matter entirely. On the developer side of things, when you consider the sheer amount of money, time, and code that'll be invested over the next few years in encryption and encryption-breaking, it's clear that Snowden's influence will be felt for quite some time to come—even if the man himself is trapped in Russian exile."
Yes, it is getting ridiculous. All of this info has been suspected, and the paranoids were already taking steps to protect themselves. Most average people don't care and have much bigger issues to deal with that really will affect their lives.
It isn't like he invented something cool, advanced society through developing new technologies, or accomplished anything. He went in with an agenda and was able to hack the system from the inside, now he has some power and fame.
As stated by a 14-year-old whose concept of "technology" obviously ends at the edge of his computer desk.
The NSA has been trusted with the discrete use of sigint since ww2
This has not resulted in any widespread misuse of data or emergence of a fascist state
Snowden's actions on the other hand have made each of us a little less safe
way to go dumbass