Digital Dissidents

Whistleblowers – patriots or traitors? We only know about the massive surveillance being conducted by government intelligence agencies because a few committed souls risked prison to smuggle the secret documents that exposed the extent of this intrusion into our privacy.

What motivates these whistleblowers to face such risks and approbation to do what they think is right and important? Digital Dissidents looks at such whistleblowers as Daniel Ellsberg, Thomas Drake, William Binney, Julian Asange, and Edward Snowden to understand what drove them to do what they did.

The documentary also surveys the vast nature of the programs to vacuum up as much data from the public as they can get away with. The greatest danger to our privacy seems to come from government agencies the world over, but large corporations such as Google and Facebook also contribute to our diminishing opportunities for privacy or anonymity. And when we discover just how extensive this spying has become, what should our reaction be?