Summary

In Chapter 25, Snowden took a position at a lower paygrade in order to see the NSA’s mass surveillance system first-hand. He recounts agents using the system to investigate their current and former romantic partners and showing each other nude photographs of women whom they encountered during the course of their work. Snowden recalls being especially disturbed when the baby son of someone he was investigating looked directly into the camera on his father’s computer: Snowden felt as if the baby had caught Snowden watching them.

Snowden began making preparations for leaving the country including taking all of his money out of the bank and leaving it at home for Lindsay to find. After careful consideration, he decided to go to Hong Kong to meet with journalists as he believed they would not extradite him to the US.

Chapter 26 details Snowden’s anxious...