Hillary Clinton: people felt betrayed by NSA surveillance

Hillary Clinton has softened her criticism of Edward Snowden and said that people felt betrayed by the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programmes.

The former secretary of state dialled down her previous rhetoric about the whistleblower and hardened her tone towards the NSA while addressing a conference on women in Silicon Valley.

The presumptive Democratic frontrunner for the 2016 presidential race also endorsed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan for net neutrality regulations, aligning herself with those who believe information and services should have a level playing field online.

Clinton made the comments in a question and answer session following a keynote address to technology executives at the “Lead On” conference in Santa Clara, organised by Watermark.

Asked by Kara Swisher, a journalist and founder of the news site Re/code, if Snowden was a traitor, Clinton replied: “I could never condone what he did. He stole millions of documents ... many of those documents had nothing to do with civil liberties.”

The criticism was notably milder compared to last year when she assailed the NSA leaker’s “outrageous behaviour” and accused him of aiding terrorists and foes of the United States.

Clinton rebuked the NSA with unusually blunt language, saying the agency needed to be more transparent and regain public trust in the wake of Snowden’s revelations. “People felt betrayed. ‘You didn’t tell us you were doing this.’”

Since Snowden’s leaks put the NSA under scrutiny from June 2013 the former first lady has steered a cautious course, making occasional swipes at Snowden and vague reprimands of the NSA while stressing the difficulty of balancing privacy and national security concerns.

Citizenfour, a documentary chronicling Snowden’s motivations, won an Oscar on Sunday.

Google, Facebook, Twitter and other big technology companies have expressed anger that the NSA and other government agencies exploited their products to keep tabs on Americans and foreigners, dampening Silicon Valley’s original enthusiasm for Barack Obama.

Clinton avoided taking a position on smartphone encryption, which has divided technology companies and governments, calling it “a classic tough choice”.

The San Francisco bay area technology hub typically favours Democrats, and donates generously to campaigns, but some Republicans have started trying to woo support. The Santa Clara conference was Clinton’s fourth high-profile visit to the region in the past 12 months.

She said she was “talking to a lot of people” about a possible White House run and still had a number of items to check off before making any announcement. “All in good time.”

The former secretary of state scored points with the tech audience by saying she would vote for the FCC’s plan for tough net neutrality rules.

The commission’s chairman, Tom Wheeler, has called for an even playing field under Title II of the Communications Act, a law previously used for utility services like phone lines.

“I would vote for net neutrality because, as I understand it, it’s Title II with a lot of changes within it in order to avoid the worst of the utility regulations,” said Clinton. “It’s a foot in the door. It’s a value statement, but it’s not the end of the discussion.”

Leading Republicans oppose the proposed rules, undermining the GOP’s attempt to build bridges with Silicon Valley.

Clinton also called for wage equality and invoked Patricia Arquette’s speech at the Oscars blasting discrimination against women.

The technology industry had a “wild west” vibe which alienated female talent. “We’re going backwards in a field that is supposed to be all about moving forward.”

She urged women in leadership positions to “develop a thick skin” and prepare comeback lines for inevitable sexist comments. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

Female technology executives should do more to help female colleagues she said: “What you do doesn’t have to be dramatic. You don’t have to run for office. Although if you do more power to you.”

If she runs for president she would try to ease polarisation, bringing Republicans from red states and Democrats from blue states into a “nice, warm purple space” to solve problems, she said.