Permanent Record

What if I told you that you are a potential criminal, a common thief, a shoplifter? Or, that you are someone capable of causing loss of lives by acts of terrorism? Before you start thinking of ways to bash me, let me tell you this – we are treated like potential criminals in our day to day lives and yet we have all learnt to live through that instead of boiling with indignation. When you enter a departmental store, you handover your bags and take the baskets provided there. When you enter a shopping mall, you are subjected to the waving of the wand – metal detectors. Worst of all is air travel – you have to remove your shoes, belts and jackets. Your luggage is scanned thoroughly and, what is worse, you are made to undergo the ‘waving of the wand’ along with your person being frisked! Of course, we all understand the reasons behind such security procedures and for the sake of the greater good – public safety – we have learnt to comply with those rules. But, there is supposed to be a line drawn between allowing oneself to basic scrutiny and keeping one’s dignity intact. For example, we are willing to allow our bags to be scanned at shopping malls, metro stations and airports, but will we tolerate the security personnel tailing us all through our presence at these places, watching our every move and marking our every word? Now, imagine the social media, your chat applications, your blogs and the whole web. What if I told you that there are people who watch your every move and record whatever you click, write, like, repost or simply gaze at for more than a normal amount of time? Will you still feel alright about it or will you feel indignant? Nope, I am not talking just about cookies and trackers that websites like Amazon or Facebook use to track our behaviors and preferences, in order to make money by showing us customized advertisements. I am talking about organized, serious large-scale surveillance. The scale in which your movement is monitored through CCTV cameras, your phone calls are listened to, your chat texts are read, your web browsing history is for the whole world to see, your personal, intimate photos are not really personal and intimate, your banking transactions are scrutinized with more attention than you yourself would pay, and your current location in the world is pinpointed with precision. Even a simple smartphone user will know that these are not impossible imaginations. Would you prefer to subject yourself to such close scrutiny day in and day out? Edward Snowden is the one who put his life on line to tell the world that this kind of mass surveillance is possible and that his country is actively pursuing it on an unforeseen, global scale. Once a part of some of the most secretive organizations in the word – the CIA & the NSA – he is now being hunted by those very organizations for the ‘crime’ of having leaked ‘top secret’ documents on America’s surveillance practices. He is charged for acts of espionage and branded a ‘traitor’ by many of his own countrymen for whose sake he decided to take the risk. This comprehensive autobiography tells the tale of that brave whistleblower, right from his ordinary childhood to his current exile in Moscow. Snowden describes his childhood, his ancestry and how his parents had been an influence in his life choices. His growth as a curious but not so pedagogic youngster, his transitioning into a patriotic youngster who unsuccessfully attempted to join the army, his eventually taking up a job at the CIA is all depicted vividly. Through these pages, Snowden gives a glimpse of his formative years – emotional as well as ethical. The book gathers pace from the chapter where Snowden starts recounting his unease at the government’s disrespect for individual privacy and intrusion into common man’s lives in the form of mass surveillance. The last couple of chapters act as worthy climax to a well-written book. Especially the one where Lindsay (his girlfriend who went on to become his wife) recounts her experience in the hands of the government, after Snowden went public with his findings, feels like a Hollywood movie. Well-paced and very well narrated. These may be the times where we take pleasure in flaunting the details of our personal lives in social media – our meals, our vehicles, our travels, our possessions, our passions or, worst of all, our bodies. But it is still about our volition, about what WE choose to flaunt and not what others want to peek at. We wouldn’t prefer someone peering into our phone screens or looking over our shoulders at the ATM. We wouldn’t want someone to tail us throughout our daily lives – following us everywhere we go, making a note of where we went, whom we spoke to, how long we spoke, what we wrote and what we got in reply. With governments surreptitiously gearing up for such capabilities, dystopian days are not far ahead. Heroes like Snowden help us fight such unethical governments and corporates, by first making us aware of such possibilities and then by providing us with tools to fight such cyber-slavery. This is a book that you must read and spread word about!

Edward Snowden is a legend!

Great book to read, if product is free you are product. It has certain great quotes. Hats off Snowden

Fast-paced , well explained , reads like a thriller , particularly if you are interested in the field of cybersecurity and it's intricacies when mixed with polity and jingoistic fervor , which the book goes to explain aren't binary in nature and often times far more layered and have far-reaching ramifications both implicit to the individual facing with the choice of executing his duty as well as physical the world around him , and also the need to constantly validate himself , why it would be okay to compromise his self- imposed moral and ethical precepts.

I Loved it, this book, if not kept under the biographies section with the face of Mr. Snowden, could have been said to be a science fiction book, but reality is often scarier than fiction, as this is not a modern reimagination of 1984 by ( George Orwell ) but, a truth so real, it blurs the line between fiction and reality, as I was reading it the reality of the crimes commited by the government in the name of the public security hit me hard, and I realised that absolute power does corrupt absolutely, I mean what kind of government thinks to always spy on everyone on the planet, in case they might commit a crime someday. This Book truly shows the perspective of someone telling a truth and it's consequences in the modern world, I was shocked by many revelations in the book, truly afraid for the my privacy and that of the general public, and continuosly over the week that I read it, thought about private things i might have done that could be used against me. The actions that were performed by Mr.Snowden in my opinion has truly created a barrier between government and the privacy of the public, he should be honoured for his actions in my opinion. But " We live in unjust times and this book sheds light on how thin a line there is a between an Unjust world and a Dystopia."

Haven't read anything as readable as this in a while..was afraid of finding a lot of in technology related terms which I wouldn't get but surprisingly there's nothing of that sort. Written simply.thought provoking.

The book is a first hand account of information that is already known to everyone. However, by the time you end with the book, a different kind of thought hits us. Is the book a word of caution or simply too paranoid. Like, should I be writing this review? Will I be profiled distinctly because I read this book and gave it a good rating? Only time will tell.

"I used to work for the government, now I work for the public. It took me a while to know the difference between the two" Edward Snowden is one of the most important whistle-blowers in modern history and his story is extremely important. This book was written with a general audience in mind and Snowden tries not to get too technical but I assume it will have an even greater impact on readers of a tech background. This is not an autobiography, it's a cautionary tale of the casual abuse of power by the government and its moral consequences. Everything you do, say or look at goes into the permanent record. Great read but gets a tad dry sometimes. An easy 4/5.

This book is written as an adventure, it takes you throug the events and experiences that lead to the couragous act of exposing our worlds worst disease. It is an comprehensive page turner.

An absolute must read for anyone who is open minded and loves a mystery, I love this so much I've bought a Hardcover to keep in my own personal library. We all know now after reading this book or listening to the Audio. That our media can be got at, at anytime, anywhere and even places you would think you are protected. So go read or listen to Permanent Record, it's worth the time. I listen to Glen Greenwalds book first so this was just icying on the Cake, but it doen't matter which order you read them, it's a must to read Both Glens "No Where to Hide" and this book "Permanent Record".

In this book Snowden gives a lot of details about his time at IC, his relation with Lindsay, family and so forth. There is also great details about his roles at IC. One of the best biographies I did read.

I like this book because you have to be so brave based in human rights values to write against the so called the most powerful country of the world, the USA. And he is American! Love his ‘forced’ written autobiography ( he hated since young to write about himself).

A really interesting read and many parts of this story I didn't know. It goes into much more detail than the film 'Snowden' so I recommend you reading it even if you've seen the film.