Ex-NSA technical chief: How 9/11 created the surveillance state

Former NSA technical director Brian Snow discusses the ethical issues around the use of mass surveillance and tells Sophie Curtis why citizens should be careful what they wish for

The US National Security Agency's mass electronic surveillance programme, known as PRISM, is widely regarded to be one of the biggest privacy invasions of all time, and yet it was US citizens themselves who had demanded to be kept safe at all costs, according to one former NSA technical director.

Brian Snow, who worked for the NSA for 34 years before joining UK-based data security company PQ Solutions, said that after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, there was massive pressure on the government from US citizens to do whatever it took to protect them from further terrorist attacks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/11221287/Ex-NSA-technical-chief-How-911-created-the-surveillance-state.html