The Pandora’s Box Snowden Opened

What if Someone Stole Your Diary?

Have you ever, as a child, locked your secret diary or hidden it deep away, fearing someone might peek inside? Because that diary held our most honest thoughts, feelings, and secrets.

But what if someone was secretly looking into a “giant diary” containing every trace of our digital lives—our conversations, emails, search histories—without us knowing? In 2013, a man named Edward Snowden revealed this shocking truth to the world. This story was more than a mere leak; it was the beginning of a profound question that fundamentally shook the rules of the world we took for granted.

Part 1: Surveillance Began in the Name of ‘Security’

Everything started on September 11, 2001, a horrific day marked by terror attacks. “Security” and “terror prevention” became national priorities above all else. In this atmosphere, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) began secretly building a massive surveillance system.

The logic was simple: “To catch terrorists, we must monitor their communications.” This was the initial problem definition (P₀) of the surveillance system. Under this definition, collecting and analyzing communication records was considered a natural act to protect the nation. However, the net cast was far wider and denser than expected, targeting everyone around the world.

Part 2: Snowden’s Revelations Expose the True Face of Surveillance

In June 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor for the NSA, decided to reveal all these secrets to the world. His disclosures exposed surveillance programs known as PRISM and XKeyscore.

• PRISM: A program that accessed servers of major IT companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple directly, allowing the viewing of emails, photos, and search histories.
• XKeyscore: A monstrous system that sucked in global internet traffic in real time, capable of reconstructing nearly all online activities of a person with just an email address—essentially a “Google for the internet.”

These revelations shocked the world because vague suspicions turned into terrifying reality. This event completely changed how we view the world.

Part 3: In-Depth Analysis: How Should We Understand the Snowden Case?

To properly understand the Snowden case, we will use two analytical tools: the Problem Redefinition Algorithm (PR) and the Multi-Dimensional Analysis Framework (MDA).

# First Key: Redefining the Problem

The most dramatic achievement of Snowden’s revelations was that they changed the problem we needed to solve.

• Original problem (P₀): “How can we keep the nation safe from terrorists?”
• Redefined problem (PR): “How can we protect citizens’ freedom and privacy from abuse of surveillance power?”

This was a tremendous shift, turning the problem 180 degrees. It changed from stopping an “external enemy” to checking the “internal watcher.” It expanded the scope from “national security” to “digital human rights worldwide,” moving the issue from a technical problem to a political and philosophical one. Snowden posed the fundamental question: “The real threat may not be terrorists but unchecked power itself.”

# Second Key: Multi-Dimensional Impact Analysis

This redefined problem caused simultaneous shocks across multiple dimensions.

• Temporal dimension (past-present-future): The era before 9/11, when privacy was respected, ended. After Snowden’s revelations, we live in a present where surveillance is normalized, and now we must worry about a future surveillance society combined with AI.
• Spatial dimension (local-global): This was not just an American issue. In an internet-connected world, U.S. surveillance meant global surveillance. The fact that the German Chancellor’s phone was tapped escalated this to a matter of sovereignty and diplomacy.
• Hierarchical dimension (individual-corporate-state):
  • Individual (micro): People were engulfed by anxiety that all their data could be collected.
  • Corporations (meso): IT companies faced a crisis of trust between protecting users and cooperating with governments.
  • States (macro): A global debate began on where to balance security and freedom.

Thus, the Snowden case was not just a single leak but a “systemic event” involving complex, intertwined issues across multiple dimensions.

Part 4: How Has the World Changed Since the Revelations?

Pandora’s box was opened, and the world cannot go back. Snowden’s revelations led to concrete changes.

• Legal and institutional changes: In the U.S., the USA Freedom Act was passed to partially restrict indiscriminate collection of communication records. Though imperfect, it was a meaningful first step to rein in state surveillance powers.
• Technological resistance and popularization of encryption: IT companies like Apple and Google began embedding strong security technologies such as end-to-end encryption by default to regain user trust, making it difficult even for governments to access data.
• Growth in civic awareness: People no longer naively say, “I have nothing to hide, so it’s okay.” Concepts like “digital citizenship” and “data sovereignty” became important topics, and citizens’ voices to protect online freedom and rights grew louder.

Conclusion: The Unfinished Story and Questions Left for Us

Snowden remains in exile in Russia, and surveillance technology continues to evolve more cunningly at this very moment. The story Snowden started is far from over.

The Snowden case poses an eternal question: “To what extent can we sacrifice our freedom for security?” There is no definitive answer. What is certain is that as citizens of the digital world, we must continuously question, monitor, and raise our voices. Always recognizing and discussing the presence of invisible watchtowers is our strongest weapon to protect our freedom.