Edward Snowden: This year you may own your identity

For many in the world of political journalism, 2013 was characterised by the Edward Snowden scandal, which first broke last June and is still rumbling on. Around that time, when we were first coming to understand the extent to which the American security apparatus had been spying on everyone’s communications, I wrote in Prospectarguing that the scandal showed society had placed an over-emphasis on security to the detriment of privacy, and that this needed to change.

In the subsequent months, this was indeed the consensus that emerged as more revelations abounded—perhaps the most politically damaging for the Oabama administration being the NSA’s bugging of foreign leaders, including such allies as Germany’s Angela Merkel. Many Germans, especially those from the former East Germany, found the American’s activities to be uneasily close to those of the Stasi (indeed, Merkel herself made the comparison). Statements of disapproval from government spokespersons accompanied outraged headlines around the world, especially in Latin America, where the furore set back President Obama’s attempts to forge better relations with the region. Brazil’s President has been belligerent in her opposition to the spying.

This global voicing of discontent has done much to show that people put a significant value on their privacy. And that information on who they call and email, and what they post on social media belongs only to them and those they choose to share it with. The question now is whether enough people will act to claw some of their privacy back through sustained media campaigns, applying pressure to politicians and, perhaps, through demonstrations (although so far these have been insignificant).

Late last year, a federal judge ruled that the collection of this “communication meta-data” infringed Americans’ right to be free from arbitrary searches, as enshrined in the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. In his damning statement, Judge Leon likened his government’s activities to those of the government of Oceania in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Despite the Obama administration’s unsurprising decision to appeal against this verdict and its recent announcement that a not-so-secret secret court has renewed the NSA’s license to mine meta-data, it will be difficult for it to ignore the fact that some aspects of its surveillance programme have been deemed unconstitutional.

To salvage the situation, Obama should give in to the pressure of public opinion, which is moving against the NSA (in December, The Guardian reported that 47 per cent of Americans thought the security agencies were a greater threat to civil liberties than terrorism, article ). While it would be naive of me to suggest that America’s—or indeed anyone else’s—security apparatus will leave us all alone. I do believe that we should hold out for greater regulation and transparency. We should know what information the NSA has, where it got it from, and what it uses it for. This would also force tech giants such as Google and Facebook to reveal who can access their user data.

Thankfully, Obama has started to move in the right direction, but his proposals to limit the collection of meta-data to those with closer links to actual suspects, among other reforms announced last Friday, did not go far enough. If he really wants to end the controversy he needs to stop being so mediocre. Congress’s decisions on the workings of the NSA should be as well known as the contents of a tax bill. Judicial rulings on this matter should be placed in the public domain (as far as national security concerns allow)—even if the sharing of the information has to be delayed, it is worth waiting for.

America was founded on freedom and government for the people. Throughout its history it has sold these ideals again and again—to its own people and abroad. This is what has made it the world’s leading exponent of “soft power”. Now the US is losing its upper hand in talks about human rights and freedom because the current reality is far from those ideals. Just a few more headlines combined with pressure from the public and foreign governments may finally force the administration to act decisively and implement real change. Maybe, just maybe, 2014 will be the year we get a little of our privacy back.