CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who revealed details about the government’s widespread surveillance operations, told a Harvard Law professor that the Boston Marathon bombings are an example of how threats can be missed even under blanket surveillance.
Snowden talked to professor Lawrence Lessig on Monday online from Russia, where he is in exile.
Snowden said “we knew who these guys were,” but “we didn’t follow up or watch these guys” of the suspected marathon bombers, one of whom is awaiting trial for April 2013 explosions that killed three people.
The Boston Globe (https://bit.ly/1pxrnMh ) reports that he said there were no reasons for much of the surveillance he uncovered to exist.
He argued that mass surveillance isn’t more effective and can actually making the United States more vulnerable to attack.
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Information from: The Boston Globe, https://www.bostonglobe.com
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