Edward Snowden Warns ‘Privacy Is Power’

Undermining encryption systems to give governments access to people’s personal messages would be a ‘colossal mistake’, former U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden has warned. Snowden’s message that ‘privacy is power’ comes as governments around the world pile pressure on tech giants like Facebook ($FB@US) and Apple ($AAPL@US) to grant access to encrypted messages. The U.S., European Union, Australia, Russia, and China call for the right to bypass encryption. Tech firms argue end-to-end encryption, which scrambles messages during delivery so the recipient can only view them, is important for ensuring user privacy. But governments are concerned about technology preventing law enforcement from investigating severe crimes like terrorism and child abuse.