America's fresh struggle over Internet 'spying'

Can a police state exist in a democracy? Edward Snowden says absolutely. The whistle-blower credited for what is dubbed the biggest intelligence leak in a generation has made claims that could make George Orwell’s “1984” seem like a children’s book. Americans, he insists, are living in a real-life nightmare, where – “If I wanted to see your emails or your wife’s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards” – without knowing it.

Despite Snowden’s overnight international fame, or shame as sympathisers of Washington may want to put it, many people are not that surprised. We are living in a world where many of us are ready to sacrifice some privacy “for safety’s sake”. If some “watchers” can access our secret emails so that in the big picture air travel won’t be such a mental torture, then so be it.

Snowden, though, was not talking about “some privacy”. Americans allegedly have been spied on more than their Russian counterparts. He said: “I have maps showing where people have been scrutinised most. We collect more digital communications from America than we do from the Russians.” Moreover, he charged that the “us and them” mentality has been prevalent far beyond the American frontiers and in many cases transformed into a free licence to eavesdrop. “We hack everyone everywhere. We like to make a distinction between us and the others. But we are in almost every country in the world. We are not at war with these countries,” he said.

Predictably, Snowden has become a wanted man. Like Julian Assange before him, Snowden is a “hero” to some and “traitor” or big criminal to others. And just like the “cable leaks” precipitated by Assange being met with subtle, well-crafted response by Washington that made the whole thing looked blurry at best, the proclaimed top-secret PRISM programme seems to be undergoing political and diplomatic dilution. So far, we have known from Snowden’s allegations that the National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US Internet giants. The access is said to be part of the previously undisclosed Prism, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats.

Frankly speaking, nobody spending much time online believes that his or her information is totally safe. It’s the alleged scale of PRISM’s staggering reach that increases the possibility of collected information falling into the hands of bad interceptors. In the open international diplomatic playground, Washington often condemns it when any state’s surveillance systems have the potential to be abused. Such worries give way to homeland security when “American interests” are concerned.

Democracy has the funny habit of making its proclaimed advocates learn the taste their own medicine. However, Snowden is likely to find himself more and more isolated. A one-man crusade may get some support and sympathy, but legitimacy in today’s world is measured through the numbers of “legitimate” voices. If a government by the people for the people wants to spy on its people, the people who matter will see to it that such an act is justified.

Democracy is not perfect, some usually say when cases like this rock America’s fundamental principles. In other words, to safeguard democracy, maybe some undemocratic means are needed. To prevent Gestapo aspirants from ruling the world, maybe ones have to act like Gestapo sometimes.

It can be confusing if one tries to figure out what is doing the wrong thing for the right reason and what is simply flat-out wrong. Good news for the United States, however, is that the world is getting used to the ambiguity and no jaw has really dropped when people hear stories like Snowden’s.