William Fitzgerald: The Google Employee Who Helped Protect Snowden Revelations That Shook The Internet

Edward Snowden's disclosures in 2013 shook the internet and technology sectors, which exposed the downsides of widespread monitoring and cast doubt on the idealistic notion of a linked society. Google, Facebook, and Apple were implicated in the worldwide discourse about government monitoring and privacy violation by Snowden.

William Fitzgerald, a Google employee in Hong Kong who was instrumental in defending Snowden, was a significant character in this narrative. After Snowden's revelations, the world is increasingly conscious of privacy, encryption, and the continuous conflict between government control and individual liberties.

Former CIA and military contractor employee Edward Snowden had the guts to reveal the NSA's monitoring methods. He divulged how the NSA, FBI, and GCHQ used tools like PRISM to spy on Americans and hack foreign computers.

The motivation for Snowden's activities was his ethical concerns over how intelligence organizations were using the information of private persons. But the NSA chief at that time, Keith Alexander, doubted him. Eventually, the US government revoked his passport and charged him with breaching the Espionage Act, according to NPR.

Efforts To Help Snowden

After learning about Snowden's revelations, Google employee William Fitzgerald in Hong Kong contacted reporter Glenn Greenwald to offer his assistance in keeping Snowden safe, according to The Guardian. Fitzgerald gained Greenwald's confidence and significantly impacted the events by connecting Greenwald with a human rights attorney in Hong Kong despite having no legal training.

Fitzgerald left Google in 2018 to start The Worker Agency, an advocacy and communications agency, after seeing cultural changes at the company, including a lessened focus on openness and personnel changes.

William Fitzgerald said he founded the company after 10 years in public policy and corporate communications at Google. He noted that during his Google tenure, he got "personally involved" with several campaigns in Ireland, Hong Kong, and the United States, wherein he realized a lot of undersized advocacy groups conducting "inspiring transformational work" with little support from bigger organizations.

He continued by saying that The Worker Agency was established to promote these admirable initiatives and ensure they get significant media attention. Every oppression narrative deserves to be told, and we want to promote progressive activism by sparking debates on social media, in the news, and by building alliances.

The IT community has been divided over government requests for user data and censorship since Snowden's disclosures. While some claim that tech firms have caved into governmental pressure, others credit them for fortifying their legal defenses against such demands.

The Aftermath of The Snowden Revelation

Nevertheless, the controversy led to the rise of encryption technology. Non-profit digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) also became well-known, which boosted awareness and encryption use. According to Snowden, 2016 was a turning point for encryption since most internet traffic moved from a specialized to a mainstream position.

The public has become more aware of the schemes of governments and tech companies in gathering data through the Internet. Thanks to Snowden's disclosures, which have led to more substantial usage of encryption.

However, as of present reporting, Snowden's case is still pending as a daily reminder of the unsolved conflicts between concerns for national security and individual privacy rights. He became a naturalized citizen of Russia, according to Euronews.