"Without the information to start a public debate, we're lost.

You know, the people being

able to question our government and hold it accountable that's the principle that the
United States of America was founded on. If we want to protect our national security, we
should be protecting that principleAnd when they try to scare us into sacrificing our basic
human rights, we won't be intimidated, and we won't give up, and we will not be silenced." 1

Quoted above is an excerpt of the speech made by Edward Snowden in last scene of
the movie showing him in the comfort of his asylum in Russia. The US government
painted him as a traitor. But for him, what he did, espionage or not, is a necessity to
let people know of the intrusions into their human rights in exchange of the
supposed promise of security. What human right, then, was violated by the
government?
Snowden answered this question in an interview with Business Insider that privacy,
unfortunately is the price we pay when it is the fountainhead of all other rights. 2 He
may not be amiss when he said so. While the word privacy is not specifically
mentioned in the US Constitution, the principle of privacy is embodied in several
provisions in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution. 3
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees the
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures. The First Amendment, on the other
hand, prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion,
impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing
on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or
prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. 4 How do these
amendments relate to the right to privacy? Justice Marshall wrote in Stanley v
Georgia, the case discussing the individuals right to view pornography, "Whatever
may be the justifications for other statutes regulating obscenity, we do not think
they reach into the privacy of one's own home. If the First Amendment means
anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his
own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole
constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to
1 Borman, M. et al & Stone, O., (2016). Snowden [Motion Picture]. Germany:
Endgame Entertainment et al.
2 Schrodt, Paul. (2016). Edward Snowden just made an impassioned argument for
why privacy is the most important right. Business Insider. Retrieved from
http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-privacy-argument-2016-9.
3 Linder, Doug. (2016). The Right of Privacy The Issue: Does the Constitution
protect the right of privacy? If so, what aspects of privacy receive protection?.
Exploring Constitutional Law. Retrieved from
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html.
4 US Const. amend. I and IV.

control men's minds."5 However, as shown in the movie, the government has the
capacity to control personal gadgets at home and conduct surveillance and
searches without the knowledge of the people involved. This constricts what
individuals can do inside the four walls of their homes. This is also known as
intrusion to solitude and seclusion under the modern tort law of the United States.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution embodies the due process
clause.6 Roe v Wade, the case that legalized abortion, confirmed that the right to
privacy includes the personal autonomy dimension. The author of the majority
opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun held that this right is protected under the Due
Process Clause in that governmental infringement has to be justified by a
compelling state interest. Individuals should have the freedom to choose whether or
not to perform certain acts or to subject themselves to certain experiences. 7 This is
similarly argued by Snowden when he said that individuals should have the choice
whether or not they want their personal information to be accessed by the
government.

5 Stanley v Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969).

6 US Const. amend. XIV.
7 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).