Edward Snowden is willing to defend spying as a whole, and has done so on many occasions. However, he continues to criticize governments that conduct mass surveillance on their citizens without a real purpose. He argues that just surveilling everyone and collecting their data will not stop a future terrorist attack "because they're not public safety programs. They're spying programs."

"He referenced both the Sydney siege and Charlie Hedbo attacks, noting that the attackers in both incidents were known to governments already," the New York Post reports.

“But the question that we as a society have to ask, are our collective rights worth a small advantage in our ability to spy?” Snowden added.

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