caption birth_place nationality article_title birth_date residence image employer birth_name occupation
snowden -lrb- june 6 , 2013 -rrb- . during interview with glenn greenwald and laura poitras elizabeth city , north carolina , u.s. american edward snowden
 21 june 1983 russia -lrb- temporary asylum -rrb- edward snowden-2 . jpg border booz allen hamilton edward joseph snowden system administrator
edward snowden

edward joseph `` ed '' snowden -lrb- born june 21 , 1983 -rrb- is an american computer professional , former cia employee , and former government contractor who leaked classified information from the u.s. national security agency -lrb- nsa -rrb- in 2013 .
the information revealed numerous global surveillance programs , many run by the nsa and the five eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and european governments .
snowden was hired by booz allen hamilton , an nsa contractor , in 2013 after previous employment with dell and the cia .
on may 20 , 2013 , snowden flew to hong kong after leaving his job at a nsa facility in hawaii and in early june he revealed thousands of classified nsa documents to journalists glenn greenwald , laura poitras and ewen macaskill .
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 newspapers including `` der spiegel '' and `` the new york times '' .
on june 21 , 2013 , the u.s. department of justice unsealed charges against snowden of two counts of violating the espionage act and theft of government property .
on june 23 , he flew to moscow , russia , where he reportedly remained for over a month .
later that summer , russian authorities granted him a one-year temporary asylum which was later extended to three years .
as of 2015 , he was still living in an undisclosed location in russia while seeking asylum elsewhere .
a subject of controversy , snowden has been variously called a hero , a whistleblower , a dissident , a patriot , and a traitor .
his disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance , government secrecy , and the balance between national security and information privacy .
