Over the last nine months, Joshua Cohen has taken me to writing school, helping to transform my rambling reminiscences and capsule manifestos into a book that I hope he can be proud of.
Chris Parris-Lamb proved himself a shrewd and patient agent, while Sam Nicholson provided astute and clarifying edits and support, as did the entire team at Macmillan, from Gillian Blake to Sara Bershtel, Riva Hocherman, Grigory Tovbis, and Brian Geffen. Thank you, Catherine Frank, for your help on the young readers adaptation.
The success of this team is a testament to its members’ talents, and to the talents of the man who assembled it—Ben Wizner, my lawyer, and, I am honored to say, my friend.
In the same vein, I’d like to thank my international team of lawyers who have worked tirelessly to keep me free. I would also like to thank Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s director, who embraced my cause at a time of considerable political risk for the organization, along with the other ACLU staff who have helped me throughout the years, including Bennett Stein, Nicola Morrow, Noa Yachot, and Daniel Kahn Gillmor.
Additionally, I’d like to acknowledge the work of Bob Walker, Jan Tavitian, and their team at the American Program Bureau, who have allowed me to make a living by spreading my message to new audiences around the world.
Trevor Timm and my fellow board members at the Freedom of the Press Foundation have provided the space and resources for me to return to my true passion, engineering for social good. I am especially grateful to our CTO Micah Lee, former FPF operations manager Emmanuel Morales, and current FPF board member Daniel Ellsberg, who has given the world the model of his rectitude, and given me the warmth and candor of his friendship.
This book was written using free and open-source software. I would like thank the Qubes Project, the Tor Project, and the Free Software Foundation.
My earliest intimations of what it was like to write against deadline came from the masters, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Ewen MacAskill, and Bart Gellman, whose professionalism is informed by a passionate integrity. Having been edited now myself, I have gained a new appreciation of their editors, who refused to be intimidated and took the risks that gave meaning to their principles.
My deepest gratitude is reserved for Sarah Harrison.
And my heart belongs to my family, extended and immediate—to my father, Lon; to my mother, Wendy; and to my brilliant sister, Jessica.
The only way I can end this book is the way I began it: with a dedication to Lindsay, whose love makes life out of exile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward Snowden was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and grew up in the shadow of Fort Meade, Maryland. A systems engineer by training, he served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency and worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency. He has received numerous awards for his public service, including the Right Livelihood Award, the German Whistleblower Prize, the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, and the Carl von Ossietzky Medal from the International League for Human Rights. Currently, he serves as president of the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Copyright © 2021 by Edward Snowden.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Snowden, Edward J., 1983- author.
Title: Permanent record: how one man exposed the truth about government spying and digital security / Edward Snowden.
Description: Young readers edition, First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references. | Audience: Ages 10-14 | Summary: “In 2013, Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance reveals to a new generation how he helped build that system, what motivated him to try to bring it down, and how kids can protect their privacy in this digital age of indiscriminate data collection”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020022084 | ISBN 9781250767912 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Snowden, Edward J., 1983—Juvenile literature. | Whistle blowing—United States—Juvenile literature. | Leaks (Disclosure of information)—United States—Juvenile literature. | Electronic surveillance—United States—Juvenile literature. | United States. National Security Agency Officials and employees—Juvenile literature. | Government information—United States—Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC JF1525.W45 S65 2021 | DDC 327.12730092--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022084
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First hardcover edition, 2021