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   Why None of the NSA's Ideas Are Worth Spreading   
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    Richardledgettnsadeputydirectorted   
   Richard Ledgett, Deputy Director, NSA, speaks with Chris Anderson via video at   
   TED2014 for the panel, "The Next Chapter, Session 8 - Hackers," on   
   March 17-21, 2014, at the Vancouver Convention Center, in Vancouver, Canada.   
   IMAGE: FLICKR, JAMES DUNCAN DAVIDSON   
   BY WILL POTTER2 days ago   
   Mashable Op-Ed   
   This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of   
   Mashable as a publication.   
   What's the National Security Agency's idea worth spreading?   
      
   TED's Chris Anderson put the trademark question to NSA Deputy Director Richard   
   Ledgett on Thursday during an interview at the Vancouver conference. Ledgett's   
   answer: "Learn the facts."   
      
   SEE ALSO: How TED Got Edward Snowden and the NSA Deputy Director Onstage   
      
   In true TED style, that's a surprising, thought-provoking statement. The   
   problem is that it's not the NSA's idea at all. It's the idea of their enemy   
   number one: whistleblower Edward Snowden.   
      
   If it were up to the NSA, we wouldn't know any facts at all about their   
   operations. We wouldn't even know what questions to ask.   
      
   The only reason we know about PRISM — and how every user of the Internet is   
   being watched, and how the NSA is monitoring world leaders, and how porn   
   habits were monitored to discredit "radicals," (and on, and on) — is because   
   Snowden leaked NSA    
   documents.   
      
   We have no idea of the scope of the NSA's operations, but what we do know was   
   only possible because of a whistleblower.   
      
   It was surreal to sit at TED listening to Ledgett say "this is a really   
   important conversation" to 1,200 attendees with a straight face, because the   
   one and only reason the NSA had this rare public discussion at all today was   
   — you guessed it —Edward    
   Snowden.   
      
   Yesterday, Snowden risked his safety and freedom by speaking to TED attendees   
   from an undisclosed location, via robotic display. His appearance surprised   
   everyone — including, Ledgett said, the NSA: He awkwardly joked: "Kudos to   
   you guys on that."   
      
   Overnight, Snowden's interview had already racked up 300,000 views, and the   
   NSA, which had previously not bothered to respond to TED's invitation, had to   
   engage the discussion.   
      
   TED's Chris Anderson attempted to use the rare opportunity to get some actual   
   facts and data out of Ledgett, to no avail. At one point Anderson asked about   
   the NSA's claims that Snowden's leaks have put American lives at risk. Ledgett   
   dodged it, and    
   Anderson asked again.   
      
   "The capabilities [of the NSA] are applied in very discreet and measured and   
   controlled ways," Ledgett responded. "As adversaries see that and recognize,   
   'Hey, I might be vulnerable to that,' they move away from that." 
It was an   
   ambiguous, empty, non-   
   answer.   
      
   As was with the rest of Ledgett's commentary: all rhetoric, no facts. A better   
   way to describe the NSA's "idea worth spreading" might be:   
      
   Trust us and stop worrying: If you aren't doing anything wrong, Ledgett said,   
   "you’re not of interest to us.” What he ignored is that the NSA is   
   vacuuming up information, and storing it indefinitely, so that it may be used   
   against you later.   
      
   We don't know what we need, so we need it all: Ledgett said he didn't know   
   what NSA surveillance was important, because it's all pieces of a bigger   
   puzzle. The reality is that the NSA isn't working with a mosaic or a puzzle.   
   What the NSA is really    
   advocating is the collection of millions of pieces from different, undefined   
   puzzles in the hopes that sometime, someday, the government will be working on   
   a puzzle and one of those pieces will fit.   
      
   A website called badguys.com "would be awesome," Ledgett said, and a big help   
   catching bad guys.   
      
      
   What's refreshing, though, is that none of the NSA's ideas seem to be   
   spreading at TED. This is my first TED conference. I'm here as a TED Fellow,   
   and I was unsure how Snowden's comments — and my own talk about how the FBI   
   labels protesters as "eco-   
   terrorists" — would be received.   
      
   It's one thing to take to the TED stage and talk about curing disease or a   
   cool new app. But Snowden? Addressing a bunch of CEOs and tech elite who have   
   paid at least $7,500 to attend? How would they respond?   
      
   The crowd here has been supportive of Snowden's whistleblowing. When Anderson   
   asked the crowd whether Snowden's actions were "fundamentally heroic," more   
   than half raised their hands. After Snowden spoke, lines formed to take   
   selfies with his robot.   
      
   Ledgett was applauded at the end of the interview, and a few TEDsters   
   attempted a standing ovation. But I asked several of those who stood, and they   
   told me it was for the discussion forum TED created, rather than Ledgett's   
   comments. Regardless of how    
   they feel about the specifics of what he did, and how he did it, almost   
   everyone seems to appreciate that it has created a vibrant, overdue debate.   
      
   Perhaps the best indication of this atmosphere came just moments before   
   Ledgett took the stage. Ed Yong, a science writer, spoke about his research on   
   parasitic behavior, and asked the audience: "Are there dark sinister parasites   
   who are influencing our    
   behavior without us knowing about it?"   
      
   "Besides the NSA?"   
      
   Will Potter is a TED Fellow and the author of Green Is the New Red. Follow him   
   on Twitter @will_potter.   
      
   TOPICS: EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA, TED, U.S., US & WORLD   
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