…Snowden, the man who changed the world

Forced by the change and the pressure in the international panorama in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations, the Obama administration has taken the step of approving a raft of laws that will offer EU citizens the same rights and guarantees to privacy as people living in the United States — which is not to say much, but at least is better than nothing.

The idea of protecting the rights of non-US citizens has emerged as a direct result of by Snowden’s revelations, which have strained diplomatic relations between Brussels and Washington. The US insistence that recent legislation protected its citizens but not other people around the world has been a problem for more than three years, but talks were speeded up after Snowden’s leaks about mass spying hit the headlines a year ago.

For the moment this is simply an announcement, an expression of a willingness to change forced by circumstances. It remains to be seen how it will translate into law, and how it will fit in with the US Privacy Act, which is the object of calls to be toughened up. In any event, the announcement that the collection and treatment of EU citizens’ data will be awarded the same guarantees as those of US citizens is good news.

That decisions on this scale can come about through the actions of a single person gives some idea of the importance of protecting people who, following their conscience and sense of civic responsibility, decide to fight for change, at times putting their lives at risk. However we choose to interpret what he did, Edward Snowden has changed the world, and we are now more aware of how things work, and thus able to demand greater guarantees of protection from our governments—which sadly, isn’t saying much, given the starting point.

It’s this simple: if Edward Snowden doesn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, then nobody does. As the nominators argue:

“His actions have in effect led to the reintroduction of trust and transparency as a leading principle in global security policies by exposing U.S. surveillance practices and forcing a new debate over security and privacy.”

Washington’s continued insistence on calling him a traitor is evermore out of line with US public opinion, which increasingly supports his actions. The existence of people like Edward Snowden is one of the driving forces for making the world a better place.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced on October 10.

(En español, aquí)