Citizenfour – Permanent Record (e)

The most utterly insane consequence of the September 11, 2001 attacks, is the digital arms race among U.S. intelligence agencies. Just days later, work began on a counterterrorism strategy that could lead to the total surveillance of all humanity. A concept that pulls out all the high-tech stops. It stands to reason that the Americans would rely on their IT infrastructure, because even though other powers have long been shaping the world’s future, the internet has belonged to the Americans from the very beginning and continues to do so. Just take a look at Google Analytics and notice the strangely extensive traffic coming from the small town of Ashburn, Virginia.

Six years ago, Edward Snowden enlightened us about the abstruse practices of PRISM, XKeyscore, and data retention. Two years later, director Laura Poitras won an Oscar for her documentary “Citizenfour,” and one might think the free press had saved our asses yet again. In my reflexive complacency, I promptly return to business as usual. I let the DVD of the film – which our youngest son gave me right after its release – sit untouched for far too long, until I pop it into the computer rather casually while working. Looking back on the events, it becomes clear to me how carelessly I’d been pushing the drama of the whole affair to the back of my mind until then. When Snowden appeared in the press in June 2013, I thought, “You’re really in deep trouble now, young friend!” Only now, even after these last few politically disheartening years, do I realize, to my surprise, that we’re all in this together.

CITIZENFOUR US trailer – a film by Laura Poitras, featuring Edward Snowden

On September 17, the anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, Ed Snowden’s *Permanent Record* will be published. Having read the book, I find it once again necessary to be wary of the internet. While unfounded paranoia isn’t very helpful, uncritical consumption of all social media is simply risky. Snowden categorically recommends end-to-end encryption. Easier said than done, and not easy for the rest of us to understand or consistently implement. What’s astonishing, however, is how little willingness people today – regardless of age – show to even take an interest in protecting their privacy.

In the future-oriented project of digitalization, IT professionals are leading the way, operating ahead of corporate management or political administration. I consider this a design flaw. Snowden, too, wonders how it’s possible that a nerd like him was allowed to penetrate so deeply into top-secret levels in such a short time. Answer: Because the “analog zombies” must blindly trust his expertise if they don’t want to halt the flow of information. But this unsuspecting perspective is the core problem: the supposedly “law-abiding” members of society always believe they remain invulnerable because they aren’t the target. How often do you hear this naive double-speak: “After all, I have nothing to hide,” and “No human could ever analyze this absurd jumble of data anyway.” – But we’re not even talking about humans here.

“Arguing that you don’t need privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don’t need freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.”

Edward Snowden in „Permanent Record“