Global surveillance whistleblowers

Global surveillance whistleblowers are whistleblowers who provided public knowledge of global surveillance.

Perry Fellwock revealed the existence of then ultra secretive National Security Agency (NSA) and its global mass surveillance apparatus and activities, including domestic spying, in a 1971 Ramparts exposé. This was the first wide exposure of the NSA, which had for decades prevented public knowledge of its abilities and activities. The revelations led the U.S. Senate Church Committee to introduce successful legislation intended to stop the NSA spying on American citizens.

In December 2005 Russ Tice helped spark a national controversy over claims that the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional wiretaps on American citizens. He later acknowledged that he was one of the sources that were used in The New York Times reporting on the wiretap activity in December 2005. After speaking publicly about the need for legislation to protect whistleblowers, Tice received national attention as the first NSA-whistleblower in May 2005 before William Binney, Thomas Andrews Drake, Mark Klein, Thomas Tamm, and Edward Snowden came forward.

Mark Klein is a former AT&T technician who leaked knowledge of his company's cooperation with the NSA in installing network hardware to covertly monitor, capture, and process American telecommunications en masse. The subsequent media coverage became a major story in May 2006.

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