Rain splattered against the windows of the Cathay Pacific flight as it descended through the turbid skies into Hong Kong. It was May 20th 2013, a day that would reshape the understanding of surveillance in the modern age. Inside the plane, a man named Edward Snowden, his heart pulsating in his chest, looked out at the neon skyline. This was no ordinary business trip for the National Security Agency (NSA) contractor. Tucked safely away in his backpack was a trove of information – secrets that would shake the world’s trust in their governments.
Snowden, like a character out of a Tom Clancy novel, was about to blow the whistle on a vast and intricate system of surveillance that would have made even George Orwell shudder. It was a plot beyond fiction, and Snowden, with his glasses and boyish looks, seemed an unlikely hero.
