Post date: Jun 11, 2013 9:34:52 AM
Reuters Business Report - This small rally took place in New York took place in support of the ex-CIA worker who exposed a top-secret U.S. surveillance programme.
These supporters say Edward Snowden's revelations of the internet tapping operation should alarm everyone.
DEBRA SWEET, PROTEST ORGANISER AND DIRECTOR OF 'WORLD CAN'T WAIT,
"This programme called PRISM and Bountiful Information Informant by the NSA is literally seizing all of your private information, everything about your bank records, your phone conversations, your email, your documents, anything that is connected online."Those concerns have spread far and wide.
The European Union is raising them at talks with the U.S. in Dublin this week.
EU COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON MINA ANDREEVA:
"The European Commission is concerned about the possible consequences for the private lives of EU citizens. We hope to get more information and details from the U.S. authorities."
Edward Snowden unveiled an operation that gave the U.S. government access to emails and other data from internet companies.
The revelations were published last week by the Washington Post and the UK'sGuardian newspaper.
The White House says President Barack Obama's administration appreciates the need for security and privacy.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN,
"He believes, with the oversight that exists an the implementation of the programmes as they are implemented, that the balance is appropriately struck, has been appropriately struck, but it is an absolutely appropriate topic for debate."
Two men said by U.S. media to be investigators were filmed calling at the home of Snowden's mother in Maryland on Monday.
They wouldn't say anything.
With Snowden himself currently holed up in Hong Kong and his future unclear, his mother wasn't talkative either.