The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak expresses admiration for NSA whistleblower

Author

By John Glenday, Reporter

June 21, 2013 | 2 min read

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has spoken out in support of NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden, the IT contractor who lifted the lid on Apple’s collusion with America’s NSA.

Admitting culpability in the affair Wozniak conceded he felt ‘a little bit guilty’ about his role in allowing new technologies to intrude upon the people’s civil liberty.

Speaking to Piers Morgan on his CNN chat show Wozniak said: “I’m always against anything government, any three letter agency,' or 'I'm for them'."

He then added: “Read the facts: it's government of, by and for the people. We own the government; we are the ones who pay for it and then we discover something that our money is being used for – that just can't be, that level of crime."

Quizzed on Apple’s role in facilitating these changes Wozniak continued: “I actually feel a little guilty about that – but not totally. We created the computers to free the people up, give them instant communication anywhere in the world; any thought you had, you could share freely. That it was going to overcome a lot of the government restrictions.

"We didn't realise that in the digital world there were a lot of ways to use the digital technology to control us, to snoop on us, to make things possible that weren't. In the old days of mailing letters, you licked it, and when you got an envelope that was still sealed, nobody had seen it; you had private communication. Now they say, because it's email, it cannot be private; anyone can listen."

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +