This assignment will cover what is considered the largest cybersecurity scandal in modern history, the massive release of confidential NSA surveillance tactics via Wikileaks and Edward Snowden. Along with Chelsea Manning, these releases brought words like “whistleblower” into everyday language and changed the public conversation about national security, immigration and terrorism, and the relationship of the tech industry to government. Some of you will remember this happening at the time and some may be learning of this event for the first time. This scandal opened hugely critical questions for not only the cybersecurity community and privacy experts but for the general public around protection from major national threats and the costs of that protection. Some of you will feel this level of surveillance is very worthwhile while others will be troubled by what was uncovered by this scandal. There are no correct reactions here, in fact, many people move across many kinds of reactions over time. We will use this opportunity to catalog some of your new questions about cybersecurity and privacy that arise as you learn more about the scandal and we will use the remainder of the semester to think through the mechanics of cybersecurity that make this level of surveillance possible and how they have advanced in the years since.
We will also consider where the players of this case stand today: Laura Poitras continued to make another documentary specifically about Julian Assange and Wikileaks and went on to found the Intercept with Glenn Greenwald, an online publication dedicated to investigative journalism on corruption and corporate interest. Glenn Greenwald was fired from the Intercept last year, amidst a series of events that deem him an extremely controversial figure who may in 2021 be somehow MORE controversial than Snowden himself!
To this point, the course has focused on our definitions of privacy and how it is protected, how the internet is governed and what is contested, fought over, championed. We have learned some mechanics of the internet, but have focused largely on the social and political spheres that impact privacy and its protections. It is the aim that to this point we ask: what are we willing to give up for safety? What do we gain when we lose privacy? And, what do we lose when we lose privacy?
This film begins a turn in the course: thinking about the connection between privacy and the mechanics of surveillance. Pay attention to the technologies of surveillance here. What are the measures used by the NSA, by the whistleblowers, by Snowden and the journalists? What are the different threats?
In the following sessions we will dive into more specifics technologies of surveillance and then spend our last sessions (this semester is moving fast!) covering threat modeling for ourselves, and privacy protections, including a brief history of hacking and how to be anonymous online. The quiz will help you to think through your assignment and prepare you for the last sessions of the course.
Please watch the Laura Poitras documentary film CITIZENFOUR.
This is the link: https://digitalcampus-swankmp-net.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/michiganstate305576/play/70222dbaa7a2b537
The film focuses on Edward Snowden, and the information he produced showing extent of government digital surveillance programs in the United States and other countries.
To complete this short assignment successfully, you will need to watch the film carefully and take notes (there is also a corresponding Session Quiz to be attentive to, please see D2L for instructions). After watching the film, you will write a short essay answering the questions below.
Quality of writing will be part of your score, so please be sure to write in complete sentences using correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
For full credit you must answer the four following questions in an essay.
This is an essay so do not submit this assignment as a numbered list. Instead, articulate each of these answers in a cohesive essay with an introduction and conclusion. I recommend 1 paragraph for each question. You must include in-text citations and a reference list at the end in any formatting of your choosing. An essay without references will be deducted credit.
How much did you know of the Edward Snowden case before watching CITIZENFOUR? Describe two examples of surprising things you noticed or learned by watching the film.
Did the film change your opinion of the case? Be specific and use examples from the film to support your points.
Why didn’t Snowden just publish the documents himself online? Why did he choose to work with journalists?
Do you think Snowden had more of a responsibility to maintain the confidentiality his employers required of him, or to the American people in revealing what he perceives as wrongdoings against them? Why? Be specific and use examples from the film to support your points.
Your essay should be about 750 words long. You will find this is not much space, so please be deliberate with your words, do not include repetitive thoughts and ensure that you have answered all of the questions through your essay.
