Oh for goodness sake. Reality is too boring for you? You could engage with the real campaign that EFF and Snowden and others are trying to get going, or you could wander off and make up some other story that protects you from having to do anything.
Since when does an NSA contractor working from home in Hawaii get VPN access to all the government secretes?
Since the NSA got reliant on huge networks that aren't understood by their own management and they needed to hire in techies to keep it running.
Essentially: big organisations have to choose between (a) crippling levels of security that prevent them from getting anything done or (b) getting things done with a small risk of leaks.
(a) is pointless so everything is heading for (b) and thats why every major news story of the last few years and the next few decades is going to be based around leaks.
Back then the excuse was that they were only being used to collect foreign traffic. Snowden revealed their loose interpretation of "foreign" and many more domestic activities happening outside of AT&T NOCs.
Foreigners' rights aren't protected by the constitution. Citizens' are and now we have legal standing to force the government to respect the law which we didn't have before knowing that the panopticon was pointed at us.
Those who knew how much the system had changed from satellite-intelligence gathering (from the era prior to transatlantic/transpacific submarine fiber, where most phone calls and international data were satellite based), to tapping fiber at submarine cable landing stations and "partnering" with major telcos, were totally unsurprised.
https://fcw.com/articles/1999/06/02/congress-nsa-butt-heads-...
Anyway, it was all over US media from 1999-2001 plus European Parliament with plenty testimony and recommendations. And again, the link encryption recommendation was in US security requirements anyway.
If not, then like all conspiracy theories you need to account for everyone who would need to be in on the secret, how they're all keeping the secret, and why--what's in it for them.
Re damage. Tens of billions to economy that military-industrial complex worked hard to get. Push-back against police state legislation. NSA ops and methods blown. Large uptake in products that reduce SIGINT. Businesses moving overseas. All with no benefits on the table for intelligence agencies.
Far as distractions, that's the media's job focing on mass shooters, North Korea, ISIS, etc instead of pending legislation and schemes by government.
I think it's way more likely Snowden was intentional. He's still working for the Federal government and the leaks are intentional so that the Federal Government could announce to the world that they are spying on all their own citizens...and nothing happen. No real revolution, and no real end to the surveillance.
I mean yea, we have better security practices, more people use encryption, more people are aware about security ... but overall the landscape hasn't changed except in one crucial aspect: people are talking less publicly. People are afraid that what they say is monitored. There has been a chilling effect.
The Snowden narrative needs to be questioned. Since when does an NSA contractor working from home in Hawaii get VPN access to all the government secretes? Like...people actually believe that?