Mass surveillance totally ineffective: Edward Snowden

According to American whistle blower Edward Snowden, mass surveillance is not effective at all. "The problem with mass surveillance is that you're burying people under too much data." Snowden said in an interview with Niewsuur in Moscow.

Snowden is known as a staunch opponent of the mass surveillance of the USA. "No one in this debate is saying we don't need surveillance, what we're saying is how should we use surveillance. When we look at the Paris attacks specifically. We see that France passed one of the most intrusive, expansive surveillance laws in Europe last year. And it didn't stop the attack. And this is consistent with what we've seen in every country."

Snowden also discussed the Cabinet's plans to expand the surveillance capabilities of the AIVD and MIVD. "The specific danger of the law that is being debated is not the fact that it allows access to terrestrial communications, but to terrestrial communications in bulk." he said. "The question is why do they want the communications of everybody." Snowden thinks that the Netherlands is being pressured by the "unholy alliance" of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to create a "surveillance superstate".

In the interview, Snowden discussed the relationship between the American intelligence services and the AIVD and MIVD. "European intelligence services have a very good relationship with US intelligence services as a general rule." Snowden said. "The Dutch relationship, as the sort of surveillance king of Europe, are obviously quite comfortable and quite close to the NSA. However in the working level, they don't have the same respect as other intelligence services might get." Snowden explains that the NSA "fears" for example the French intelligence service, while they consider the Dutch service "subordinates who work for them". "They sort of do what we tell them"

"The US intelligence services don't value the Dutch for their capabilities, they value them for their accesses, they value them for their geography, they value them for the fact that they have cables and satellites and a sort of vantage point that enables them to spy on their neighbors." Snowden said.