Snowden: Spying debate could put end to mass surveillance National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden says the debate sparked by his revelations of mass surveillance by the NSA could ultimately result in the end of the surveillance program. Speaking to Britain's Channel 4 in a video recorded in Russia, where he has temporary asylum, the man wanted in the U.S. for exposing the surveillance program said, "The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together, we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying. The computer analyst, now 30, was speaking in Channel 4's annual "Alternative Christmas Message." Others who have delivered them include the likes of Ali G and Sharon Osbourne. The message is described by Britain's Press Association as a "festive address (that) is the station's answer to the Queen's (annual Christmas) message to the nation." Referring to his leaks, Snowden said, "Recently we learned that our governments, working in concert, have created a system of world-wide mass surveillance - watching everything we do. "Great Britain's George Orwell (in the classic "1984") warned us of the danger of this kind of information. The types of collection in the book - microphones and video cameras, TVs that watch us are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. "Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person," Snowden continued. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem, because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be. The message comes two days after Snowden told The Washington Post in an interview posted Monday night that said his "mission's already accomplished," since his revelations caused the ongoing reassessment of U.S. surveillance policies. Snowden told the newspaper he was satisfied because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government's collection of bulk Internet and phone records, an activity that has grown dramatically in the decade since the Sept.