Background and Education

Edward Snowden was born on June 21, 1983, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. During his childhood, his family moved to Maryland. His mother worked in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, while his father, a former Coast Guard officer, later moved to Pennsylvania and remarried.

Snowden did not complete high school but earned a GED. He studied computer science intermittently at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland, from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2004 to 2005. In 2004, he enlisted in the Army Reserve to train as a Special Forces candidate. However, he was discharged after approximately four months, reportedly due to injuries sustained during training.

NSA Career and Whistleblowing

Snowden began working in the intelligence community as a computer expert and eventually became a contractor for the NSA through companies such as Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton. While working for Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii, Snowden gained access to highly classified documents detailing global surveillance programs operated by the NSA in cooperation with telecommunication companies and European governments.

In June 2013, Snowden traveled to Hong Kong, where he met with journalists from The Guardian and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. He provided them with thousands of classified documents, sparking international debate about privacy, government surveillance, and national security. Following these disclosures, the United States charged him under the Espionage Act. Snowden subsequently sought asylum and has been living in Russia since August 2013.

The information revealed by Snowden exposed programs such as PRISM and XKeyscore, which showed the extent of NSA surveillance on both domestic and international communications.

Media Coverage and Public Reception

Snowden's actions generated global media attention and polarized public opinion. While the U.S. government views his disclosures as criminal, many civil liberties advocates hail him as a whistleblower who acted in the public interest. The documentary Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras and chronicling Snowden’s story, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2015.

In September 2019, Snowden released his memoir, Permanent Record, in which he describes his motivations and experiences. During the same month, he publicly stated his desire to return to the United States if granted a fair trial.

Personal Life and Relationship with Lindsay Mills

When Snowden left for Hong Kong in 2013 to disclose the NSA documents, he left behind his longtime partner, Lindsay Mills. The two had been living together in Hawaii, and Mills was reportedly unaware of Snowden’s plan. A professional acrobat and performance artist, Mills graduated from Laurel High School in 2003 and later attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, graduating in 2007.

Despite the upheaval, Mills eventually joined Snowden in Russia. In September 2019, it was publicly announced that Edward Snowden and Lindsay Mills were married.