* * GENUINE HERO: Ed Snowden stands up brave to a sick criminal GOV'T
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COMMENTARY and analysis from CBS NEWS, Posted in Conscience & Courage
"The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to"
"I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
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The man who claims to be the whistleblower behind the revelation that the National Security Agency is gathering troves of data on individuals' telephone and internet use stepped forward on Sunday.
Edward Snowden asked Britain's Guardian newspaper -- which along with The Washington Post first broke the story -- to release his identity.
VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57588403/man-claiming-to-be-nsa-whistleblower-comes-forward/
Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA employee who currently works as a contractor for the National Security Agency as an employee of contracting giant Booz Allen Hamilton, claimed responsibility for the leaks that have roiled Washington for the last week, saying: "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I have done nothing wrong."
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Booz Allen confirmed later Sunday that Snowden worked for their firm for less than three months, assigned to a team in Hawaii.
"News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter," the company said in a statement.
Edward Snowden, in a screengrab from a video shot in Hong Kong by the Guardian newspaper / SCREENGRAB VIA THE GUARDIAN
Working out of an NSA office in Hawaii, Snowden copied the documents he subsequently disclosed to the Guardian and asked his supervisors for time off to receive treatments for epilepsy. The Washington Post reports he told no one -- not even those closest -- about what he was doing.
On May 20, Snowden departed for Hong Kong to monitor the results of his disclosures, a city he chose because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech" and because he believed the Asian island metropolis would afford him some level of insulation from the prying eye of the U.S. government.