In his book “No Place to Hide”, Glenn Greenwald skillfully points out that if everything people do is being monitored, people need to know about it and decide whether this is acceptable to them or not. His main argument is that governments and authorities should be transparent and accountable in line with democratic principles, and even if the authorities are to have a mass surveillance program, it should be based on the consent of the society, i.e. the society should decide whether it wants to give up its privacy.
Greenwald starts with the background story of the NSA leak from his perspective by walking the reader through the whole process starting from his initial contact with Edward Snowden. He immediately persuades the reader about the importance of encrypted messaging and e-mails simply by describing his experiences. I found the story of his spouse’s laptop being “stolen” upon their talk on Skype about sending “confidential documents” really impressive.
It would be unfair to think of this book as only a memoir. In fact, the great bulk of the book is about his analysis of the leaked documents. He describes each of the programs used by the NSA to collect different sorts of data such as PRISM, BOUNDLESS INFORMANT, FAIRVIEW, STORMBREW, BLARNEY, OAKSTAR, Thieving Magpie, Homing Pigeon, etc. in detail. He explains how these programs are used to collect both invasive and metadata including but not limited to the online activities and telecommunications activities of almost everyone in the world, and shows not only how they are used but also for what purpose. He also talks about the laws and the legal system that is in place in the US, which are used as a legal basis for the said mass surveillance. He discusses the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Patriot Act of 2001 as well as the FISA courts in great detail.
He has very valid arguments against mass surveillance. He points out that, although the above-mentioned programs were mainly developed under the Patriot Act to “keep the nation safe”, despite collecting all kinds of content data and metadata for years, none of this “intelligence” prevented an occurrence of any terror attack and some plots were averted only because bystanders, ordinary people, who happen to be there at that time, alerted the authorities. This is a very strong argument and persuades the reader that “terrorism” has become an excuse to invade ordinary people’s lives.
At this point comes the question “why do they do it then?” Greenwald’s answer is that there are various reasons. First of all, by collecting all kinds of information about everyone, they build inventory and use that information against the individual when she/he becomes a threat and needs to be discredited. The news about Greenwald’s past tax debt as well as his spouse’s arrest at a British airport based on charges of terrorism prove this point quite well.
Secondly, Greenwald shows quite clearly that this kind of mass information gives the authorities knowledge to know their “enemies” and prepare custom solutions to fix the relevant problems. The “Manhunting Timeline” detailing the efforts to “locate, prosecute, capture, and/or kill” various individuals based on different accusations, including Julian Assange, (p. 188) is very remarkable. Moreover, Greenwald points out different techniques such as “setting up a honey trap” or “writing a blog purporting to be one of their victims” used to deal with and discredit the group called Anonymous (p. 191).
This excessive surveillance and data collection combined with the above-mentioned programs and tactics make the reader think: “Who is safe?” The answer is no one, according to Greenwald, for several reasons. Initially, one can think that he is safe and has nothing to worry about this massive surveillance as long as he does not do anything that might upset the state or the authorities. However, this knowledge alone would cause a growing amount of pressure on the individual to restrain himself, which would result in self-oppression. This would, in the long run, curtail the freedom of expression. At one point, Greenwald quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s parallel between NSA’s mass surveillance program and the “Stasi” of East Germany, which was spying on almost every member of the population. I think this parallel is a very valid one.
In the last chapter of the book, Greenwald talks about the reactions he received from various journalists and media outlets. I think this is a really good chapter showing several different examples of how powerful the media is. The way they tried to discredit both Greenwald and Snowden by way of manipulating information has made me think what other matters related to national security we, ordinary readers, are being manipulated about.
Greenwald concludes this impressive book by emphasizing the importance of online privacy as a human right and emphasizing the importance of his policy solution: transparency. Secrecy lets governments act arbitrarily, and if they were forced to be transparent, they would automatically act in a more accountable way and which would prevent an abuse of power.
This book has a very smooth and flowing style, and it is easily accessible by the average reader. Anyone who is interested in knowing more about either has experience as a journalist working on the NSA leak, or the meaning of the leaked documents would greatly benefit from this excellent book.
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