Edward Snowden warns about loss of privacy in Christmas message

The Guardian and  CHANNEL 4

Mr Snowden opened his two-minute message, recorded in Russia, with a reference to novelist George Orwell, author of 1984, saying the surveillance technology described in his works was "nothing compared to what we have today".

VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT HERE

Here's the transcript: 

Hi, and Merry Christmas. I'm honored to have the chance to speak with you and your family this year.

Recently, we learned that our governments, working in concert, have created a system of worldwide mass surveillance, watching everything we do.

Great Britain's George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. The types of collection in the book -- microphones and video cameras, TVs that watch us -- are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go.

Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves -- an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought. And that's a problem, because privacy matters. Privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be.

The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together, we can find a better balance. End mass surveillance. And remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying.

For everyone out there listening, thank you, and Merry Christmas.

Et nos deux pseudo-journalistes de CNN gagnent le "pompon"!

A vous de juger!  le "reportage" de CNN est très intéressant d'un certain point de vue : comment développer l'esprit critique de nos lycéens...

reactions to the message on CTV NEWS  : http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/snowden-s-alternative-christmas-message-spying-worse-than-in-orwell-s-1984-1.1607821

La page de la BBC sur ce dossier :

Snowden

The lighter side on the English blog :

Infographic : How the US is spying on its citizens

Other infographics about Snowden

http://www.englishblog.com/2013/12/cartoon-uncle-sam.html#.UrynCbTDsSm

Et de fil en aiguille.....retour sur George Orwell et BBC 4

The Real George Orwell

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pyz0z/episodes/guide