Edward Snowden made a call to take back privacy with technology, supporting an anti-surveillance campaign called Reset The Net during a talk on Thursday — the anniversary of the first published NSA surveillance revelation.  Speaking via Google Hangouts from Russia, Snowden noted that trust in both the U.S. tech sector and politician institutions has eroded. But the good news, Snowden said, is that netizens don't have to rely on governments to protect their privacy rights anymore.  "We're past the point where citizens are entirely dependent on governments to defend our privacy, we don't have to ask for our privacy, we can take it back," he said during a talk with Electronic Frontier Foundation cofounder J.P. Barlow at the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York City. "We can do it with our technology applied in new innovative ways.”  on the anniversary of the #snowden revelations, edward snowden in conversation with @jpbarlow at #pdf14 pic.twitter.com/qHmFaNDmsv  — Christopher Wong (@chrswng) June 5, 2014  Snowden's talk hit some of the usual points he has emphasized in past appearances, but there was room for some unscripted moments.  "There's an old joke about why do animals lick their genitals — because they can," said Barlow, referring to Snowden's earlier point that just because technology allows the NSA to do bulk surveillance, it doesn't mean it should. "We've reached the point where something very similar applies to governments — except for the fact that they're not licking their own."  "They are licking our own,” Snowden quipped, leading to laughter, before adding: "and then taking pictures."  Snowden also endorsed the Reset the Net campaign, which aims to promote web encryption across major websites like Google, Tumblr, Wordpress and others, to promote consumer encryption tools that would make NSA surveillance harder and more expensive.  "We have the technology, and adopting encryption is the first effective step that everyone can take to end mass surveillance," Snowden wrote in a statement on Wednesday supporting Reset the Net, which was launched by Internet freedom activist group Fight for the Future, a group mostly famous for being one of the driving forces behind the anti-SOPA protests in early 2012.  But it's not just about technology. To stop NSA surveillance, Snowden called for people across the world — and the U.S. particularly — to get more political.  "We need to vote," he said, because even if you trust this government and this Congress, the next government might abuse these surveillance powers more.  "It's a system of turnkey tyranny," he went on. "It passed in secret, behind close doors, and now we live in it. The question is, what are we going to do about it?"  After Snowden's final remarks, attendees in the packed auditorium of the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York, erupted in sustained applause — with some making their way to their feet.  It was a friendly crowd for Snowden. During one of the earlier talks preceding Snowden's, an activist from the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked how many people used encryption and many hands went up. “I'm preaching to the choir,” she joked.  In a way, so was Snowden. But for his call for privacy to be effective, his message will have to be heard beyond the converted.  Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Edward Snowden called for Americans and citizens of the world to take back privacy with better technology but also with political action.