Interview by Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill Transcript The Guardian (July 18, 2014)
“
No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused.
— Edward Snowden
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused." in the context of "Interview by Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill Transcript The Guardian (July 18, 2014)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Edward Snowden" (Quotes, 2014)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American former technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who leaked details of several top-secret U.S. and British government mass surveillance programs to the press. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times.
About Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American former technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who leaked details of several top-secret U.S. and British government mass surveillance programs to the press. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. Snowden came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times.
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