Edward Snowden speaks: NSA contractor who leaked details of surveillance scheme reveals himself Edward Snowden, a former CIA technical assistant, has fled to Hong Kong Leaked details of Prism, which he says harvests personal data from internet U.S. government has been targeting Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others 'What they're doing (poses) a threat to democracy,' Snowden says Spies at GCHQ in UK accused of using it, bypassing any British legal checks U.S. National Intelligence director says surveillance keeps America safe By Ian Drury and Martin Robinson Whistleblower: Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA technical assistant, revealed he had passed classified information on Prism to the media and then fled to Hong Kong America's most wanted man has broken cover to reveal why he decided to leak documents from one of the world's most notorious spy organisations. Former CIA worker Edward Snowden admitted he would be "made to suffer" after triggering shockwaves across the globe by handing over top-secret files from the US National Security Agency (NSA). The 29-year-old whistleblower, who earned £130,000 a year ($200,000), exposed chilling details of how the covert agency, based in Maryland, gathers private information from people around the world - including in Britain - using a programme called Prism. Revealing why he blew the whistle he said: 'I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under. The Prism system gives officials easy access to data held by nine of the world's top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Skype. Mr Snowden acted after becoming convinced the US government's bid to harvest personal information from millions of individuals was a "threat to democracy." And he described how he fears he will be kidnapped and returned to America to face espionage charges and possible life in prison - or even murdered on Washington's orders. 'I do not expect to see home again,' he said. Mr Snowden could face decades in jail if he is extradited from Hong Kong, said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents whistleblowers. And Senator Peter King, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called for Mr Snowden to be "extradited from Hong Kong immediately . . . and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." He added: "I believe the leaker has done extreme damage to the US and to our intelligence operations." Mr Snowden spoke to The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers from a hotel room in Hong Kong where he is on the run after making one of the most significant leaks in US history - on a par with Wiki-Leaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. He said he would "ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimisation of global privacy." Empty and on the market: Edward Snowden's former home in Waipahu, Hawaii, which he fled last month for Hong Kong so he could leak details about the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs Secrets: A neighbour said today that the garage at the home had boxes stacked floor to ceiling when Snowden was planning his escape Mr Snowden had been working at the NSA for the past four years as an employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton after working for the CIA as a technical assistant, specialising in computer security. His role allowed him access to classified material. He said he had raised his concerns with his superiors, but had been ignored. He said: "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong. I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions but I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant. My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them. 'What they're doing (poses) an existential threat to democracy,' he added. U.S security chief, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, has launched an aggressive defense of a secret government data collection program. Clapper blasted what he called 'reckless disclosures' of the highly classified spy agency project code-named PRISM by Snowden. 'Over the last week we have seen reckless disclosures of intelligence community measures used to keep Americans safe,' he said Defensive: Director of National Intelligence James R Clapper said in a statement Saturday that disclosures on intelligence gathering practices were 'reckless' Mr Snowden said he was content to sever his "very comfortable life," which included a six-figure salary, a girlfriend, a home in Hawaii and his family, to shine a light on the NSA's widening surveillance net. He said: "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building." NSA chiefs were "intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them," he said. I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity. The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. A Hawaii real estate agent said on Sunday that Snowden and his girlfriend moved out of their home in a quiet neighborhood near Honolulu on May 1, leaving nothing behind. Informant: The Director of National Intelligence James R Clapper, left, released a statement on PRISM, which is reported to have been used to gather information from the servers of companies like Facebook Century 21 real estate agent Kerri Jo Heim said that the owner of the house wanted the couple out so that the home could be sold. Heim says police came by on Wednesday to ask where the couple went. She told them she didn't know. Carolyn Tijing, who lived across the street from Snowden, says the couple had moving boxes lining their garage from floor to ceiling before leaving the neighborhood suddenly. According to The Guardian, Snowden copied the final set of documents he intended to disclose three weeks ago. He then told his boss and his girlfriend that he'd be away for a few weeks, keeping the reasons vague as only someone working in intelligence can, and on May 20, he boarded a plane to Hong Kong, where he remains in hiding. 'Necessary': The top intelligence official, James R Clapper, said the NSA's intelligence measures disclosed in recent reports were 'used to keep Americans safe' He said the former UK colony, now part of China, would resist any demands from the White House. He believes the US could begin extradition proceedings and he might be bundled on to a plane bound for the States - and certain imprisonment - or that he could be killed. He also thinks the Chinese government might seize him. Before making the leak three weeks ago, he told bosses he needed time off and his girlfriend that he was going away for work. Since arriving in Hong Kong he has left his hotel room just three times. The high level security clearance sparked his concern for the intense surveillance the NSA was carrying out among millions of Americans and hundreds of millions across the world. He told The Guardian of one incident where CIA operatives got a Swiss banker drunk in an effort to recruit him as an informant to obtain secret banking information. He said they encouraged him to drive home intoxicated and when he was arrested for DUI, the undercover agents offered to help, managing to recruit the banker on the back of the favor. Snowden said this and other things he witnessed in Geneva disillusioned him about how his government worked and how this in turn impacted the world. 'I realized that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good,' he said. He said he was disappointed President Obama advanced the policies he was hoping the newly elected President was stamp out and that 'hardened' him. Hide out: Snowden boarded a plane to Hong Kong, pictured, on May 20, to try to claim asylum No longer could he wait around for someone else to act, and after spending three years learning just how 'intent' the NSA was at making every conversation and behavior in the world known to them he took the leap. According to Snowden, he carefully evaluated every document he disclosed to ensure it was legitimately in the public interest. 'There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people isn't my goal. Transparency is,' he said. Given the Obama administration's track record at prosecuting whistle-blowers, he fully expects to get the same treatment. But he insists he is not afraid of what lies ahead because 'this is the choice I've made,' he told The Guardian. According to the newspaper, he broke down just once during the series of interviews, when he was discussing the impact his actions would have on his family, many of whom work in government agencies or departments. He said these fears for his family's welfare kept him up at night. Snowden's ability to get to the center of the NSA is impressive given he attended community college in Maryland, where his family relocated when he was a teen, to obtain his high school diploma but dropped out before completing. In 2003, he enlisted in the army and began a training program to join the Special Forces, explaining to The Guardian that he wanted to fight in the Iraq war because he felt he had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression - the same reason he is giving to justify his leaks. But he broke both his legs in a training accident and was discharged. He got his first NSA job working as a security guard at one of the agency's facilities at the University of Maryland before moving to the CIA to work on IT security. There, he rose quickly. He was given more and more access to top-secret documents as he climbed the ranks. Then in 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for maintaining computer network security and privy to more secrets than ever before. Snowden has good reason to be concerned. The NSA - the most powerful and secretive organization in the world - is hunting him down, having visited his home in Hawaii twice and already contacted his girlfriend. 1978: In response to outrage over spying on activists and other U.S. citizens, Congress passes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It creates a secret court to monitor spying within the United States. Known as the FISA court, its judges sign off on wiretapping and search warrants used against foreign agents and suspected spies and terrorists and Americans involved with them. September 2001: The shock of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington pushes George W. Bush's administration to seek new powers to improve intelligence-gathering and prevent terrorism. October 2001: Congress and Bush rush the USA Patriot Act into law. It gives the government unprecedented authority to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in pursuit of suspected terrorists. Because of privacy concerns, lawmakers make the eavesdropping provisions and other controversial aspects temporary, requiring renewal by Congress. December 2005: The New York Times reports that the National Security Agency is secretly eavesdropping on telephone calls and emails of Americans communicating with people outside the United States, without seeking warrants from the FISA court. What becomes known as 'warrantless wiretapping' began in 2002 under a presidential order. Critics call it unconstitutional, but the Bush administration says it's legal. March 2006: Congress votes to renew the Patriot Act, although lawmakers voice concerns about the government's broad powers to conduct surveillance and collect data. May 11, 2006: USA Today reports that the NSA is secretly collecting phone records of millions of Americans in a giant database. Some of the phone companies cited dispute the story. August 2006: A federal judge in Detroit rules that the NSA's warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional because it infringes on free speech, privacy and the separation of powers. The program continues as the case is appealed. January 2007: Responding to the court challenge and lawmakers' concerns, Bush suddenly changes course. His administration announces it will begin seeking approval from the FISA court when eavesdropping on telephone calls between the U.S. and other countries in pursuit of terrorists. August 2007: Congress approves changes sought by the Bush administration to the FISA Act, officially allowing NSA eavesdropping on communications between an American and a suspect foreigner, without a FISA judge's approval. May 2011: Congress passes and Obama signs a four-year extension of Patriot Act provisions on record searches and roving wiretaps. Some lawmakers complain that the law doesn't do enough to protect Americans' privacy and the disagreement forces the renewal to the last minute. June 5, 2013: A British newspaper, The Guardian, reports that the NSA is collecting the telephone records of millions of American customers of Verizon under a top secret court order. Security experts say the records of other phone companies are also involved. June 6, 2013: The Guardian and The Washington Post report that the NSA and the FBI are tapping into U.S. Internet companies, including Google and Facebook, scooping out emails, photos and videos to track foreign nationals who are suspected of terrorism or espionage. That night, in a rare disclosure, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper reveals some information about the programs to counter what he says is the 'misleading impression' created by news coverage. Clapper says the government is prohibited from 'indiscriminately sifting' through the data and can only review it when the query involves a reasonable suspicion that a foreign terrorist organization is involved. Clapper says articles about the Internet program 'contain numerous inaccuracies' but does not specify what those might be. June 7, 2013: Obama defends the programs, saying he came into office with 'healthy skepticism' about them and has increased some safeguards to protect privacy. But he offers assurances that 'nobody is listening to your telephone calls' or reading citizens' emails. Obama says privacy must be balanced with security: 'We're going to have to make some choices as a society.' June 8, 2013: For the second time in three days, Clapper takes the unusual step of declassifying some details of an intelligence program in response to media reports. He says the government program for tapping into Internet usage is authorized by Congress, falls under strict supervision of a secret court and cannot intentionally target a U.S. citizen. Clapper says the data collection had the approval of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court and was done with the knowledge of Internet service providers. He says media revelations of government intelligence-gathering programs are reckless and give America's enemies a 'playbook' on how to avoid detection. June 9, 2013: Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old contractor who claims to have worked at the National Security Agency and the CIA allows himself to be revealed as the source of disclosures about the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs. Snowden tells The Guardian newspaper his 'sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.' Source: Associated Press