Edward Snowden and Civil Disobedience Edward Snowden had an impressive resume, having worked for Dell and the CIA prior to taking a position with the consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton. As part of his work with both Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton, Mr. Snowden worked at the U.S. government's National Security Agency (NSA) on his employer's work as a contractor for the NSA, starting in 2013. While there is some disagreement about what his job involved during the NSA work, Mr. Snowden has described his work there as finding ways to hack into Internet and telephonic communications. There are differing accounts, but Mr. Snowden says that he objected to his supervisors about what he was being asked to do because he believed that the searches being done of Internet and telephonic communications were unconstitutional. Mr. Snowden would later describe his efforts in an interview: The NSA has records-they have copies of emails right now to their Office of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks from me raising concerns about the NSA's interpretations of its legal authorities. I had raised these complaints not just officially in writing through email, but to my supervisors, to my colleagues, in more than one office. I did it in Fort Meade. I did it in Hawall. And many, many of these individuals were shocked by these programs. They had never seen them themselves. And the ones who had, went, "You know, you're right.... But if you say something about this, they're going to destroy you."30 Mr. Snowden eventually released 9,000-10,000 NSA documents as an informant to various newspaper reporters around the world. He later gave the reporters permission to disclose his identity. Mr. Snowden has lived in exile ever since, including in Hong Kong, Russia, and other countries that may not be all known. Mr. Snowden has been called a whistleblower (and has received numerous international awards recognizing his courage for what he disclosed), a traitor (for revealing sensitive and classified information), a patriot, and a coward (among other names not appropriately listed in a textbook). There have been interviews, presentations via video on college campuses, and various forms of communi- cation from Mr. Snowden. There was also been discussion of a possible pardon for him by President Obama, but no action was been taken before Mr. Obama left office. Opinions about Mr. Snowden's actions tend to be strong on both sides and emotionally charged