At the end of the day it doesn't matter. You just need to read the terms and conditions before opening a gmail account and you realize they want you to consent to them storing and relating everything, if not with evil intent then with evil potential. And if not used by Google itself, they are situated in a country where the secret service can legally press any information out of them, and legally have a gag order issued.

Closer to open than the Apple phones... you really think that deserves Kudos? That's like praising a heater that only raises your room temperature to 1, because it's better than the one that did not even turn on. Google started with Free Software and produced a system that is anything but Free, while astutely convincing the weak-minded that simply by exploiting Free Software to reduce their development cost they were somehow helping Freedom.

I used to think as you do but time has proven the lies. Google is different from Apple only in circumstance, not in nature.

Facebook is probably the single most useless pseudo-web company clogging the internet, again this seems an incredible position to take, unless you are actually being sarcastic and are conscious of how this is 'damning by faint praise.'

I suspect that Big Brother can track you whether you use Google related products or not. The NSA tracks everything according to Snowden.

But then Snowden worked for the NSA, so why would you trust him ? I know I wouldn't and don't.

The news today is all about psychological manipulation, never forget that. Using Tor to hide your behavior may be exactly what they want, and they know it. They probably have extensive psychological and social models for how people will react and they know how to manipulate you.

I will grant that Snowden has put his own spin on what the NSA does. But, why would he sacrifice his own happiness and freedom to lie about the NSA? He is a wanted man. I trust Snowden over the NSA.

That may be so, but that's no reason to give up and hand your data over on a silver plate.

He wasn't the only one to inform the public. There is a history of people informing the public, belittled and prosecuted at the time, and in Europe a shitstorm about Echelon was a-brewing just before it was swept aside by the events in the wake of 911.

Furthermore, his statements have been the subject of intense scrutiny and have been confirmed in every case where falsification would have been possible.

I trust Snowden no more than the NSA. There simply is no reason to. Just because he betrays his masters doesn't mean he can be trusted ... in fact quite the opposite.

There are lot of disclosures, confirmed by many involved subjects and other circumstances to be taken into consideration. Judging just by act of betraying a traitor is too narrowed and naive.
All of this however does not rule out possible other deeper hidden purpose. However the revealed massive extent of privacy breach and activities of government agencies wiping their bottoms with international laws and human rights are enough on its own …

That's great ... but show me the results ... oh wait, they are still wiping.

Point well taken. Snowden has presented his point of view. Conversely is there any evidence to suggest that he is not telling the truth? I have watched documentaries and read articles from other former CIA/NSA operatives that state that the intelligence community is monitoring us.
I just assume that I am being tracked/monitored and behave accordingly. Since 9/11 and the Patriot Act all bets are off.

Maybe this isn't even about the truth, but rather how they use it to manipulate you. Lets face it, knowing the truth doesn't imply that something can be done about it ... and so far not much has been done in the positive direction. If you're trying to say that Snowden has had a positive influence, I see no proof of that yet.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...-is-test.shtml

He has given us an insight into intelligence gathering. We now know that we are being monitored 24/7. We now know that we have no expectation of privacy. The intelligence community does not need a court order to monitor us. I think that is valuable information.