A Canadian team has created an archive of a searchable database archive of all the publicly released classified documents leaked by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The archive was put together by the journalist organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and the Politics of Surveillance Project at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto.
“We are extremely proud to launch the Snowden Archive as a tool for Canadians, and the world, to better understand the scope and scale of mass surveillance programs,” said CJFE Executive Director Tom Henheffer in a statement on the launch of the archive Wednesday (March 4). “We believe this tool is just the start of many important stories to come, and hope this will help the public engage in conversation about government surveillance practices.”
An explanation on the archive website describes the breadth of the documents available:
Our aim in creating this archive is to provide a tool that would facilitate citizen, researcher and journalist access to these important documents. Indexes, document descriptions, links to original documents and to related news stories, a glossary and comprehensive search features are all designed to enable a better understanding of state surveillance programs within the wider context of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) along with its partners in the Five Eyes countries – U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Supporters of the initiative include the Surveillance Studies Centre, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Queen’s University; the Digital Curation Institute, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto; and the Centre for Free Expression, Faculty of Communications and Design, Ryerson University.
More information:
Snowden Surveillance Archive – snowdenarchive.cjfe.org
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) press release – Snowden Digital Surveillance Archive Launches for Public Use – here
CBC News – Edward Snowden archive aims to ‘piece together the bigger picture’ – here
Toronto Star – Archive of Edward Snowden documents brings debate to Canada – here
CP24 – Online database of leaked Snowden documents now available in Canada – here
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