

Snowden's letter: Big things are happening in Denmark - Svip
http://www.b.dk/nationalt/big-things-are-happening-in-denmark

======
aw3c2
As the website does not work unless you enable Javascript and let them cookie-
stuff you until you explode, here is an archive for privacy aware people:
[http://archive.today/EUq4H](http://archive.today/EUq4H)

~~~
Svip
Yes. The website is unfortunately incredibly shitty. It is unfortunately also
the original publication of the letter. Thank you for this alternative.

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neilpeel
We have published a summarised version of the letter in English, extracting
the key quotes on thenordicweb.com
[http://www.thenordicweb.com/2014/05/05/edward-snowdens-
lette...](http://www.thenordicweb.com/2014/05/05/edward-snowdens-letter-to-
denmark/)

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randomname2
Background info on the story
[http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/may/01/denm...](http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/may/01/denmark-
magazines)

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aw3c2
I don't fully understand it. What exactly did Se & Hør pay for access for?
Some nation-wide (or bank-wide) database of credit card transactions? If so,
awesome! I wish more people who expose what kind of databases are available if
you are capable to pay.

~~~
Shizka
EDIT -- See the response by Svips. It gives a better overview.

In Denmark(and Scandinavia) we have a company called Nets who is a provider
for credit card and banking transaction services. They thus have a lot of
personal information on everybody

There was a highly ranked entrusted person within Nets who leaked personal
information from a database containing banking transactions to the magazine
"Se & Hør". This magazine is probably something like "The Sun" in Britain. I'm
not entirely sure about the comparison, but I think it's about the same.

Anyways, the person who leaked the information provided information about the
location of several celebrities and the royal family to a journalist within
the magazine. This allowed the paper to locate people when they were traveling
or on honeymoon. After looking at the information the person could, due to his
high ranking, delete all traces of having looked at the information.

~~~
marvin
Huh. So basically this means that every Norwagian and Dane's credit & debit
card usage has been up for sale to the highest bidder since 2008 at least. And
since Nets operates out of Singapore, the authorities don't have a say in it.
I truly hope this stirs up a major shitstorm, I am very much not okay with
this.

~~~
Svip
You are mistaken. Nets does not operate out of Singapore.[0] That is a
different Nets.[1] They are unrelated.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nets_Group](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nets_Group)
[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_for_Electronic_Transfer...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_for_Electronic_Transfers)

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pkhamre
Scroll down for the English version.

~~~
watwut
Alternatively, search for: * "This week we’ve heard that the Danish weekly"

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MrJagil
An article (in Danish) describing how the letter came to be:
[http://www.b.dk/nationalt/snowden-kaster-sig-ind-i-dansk-
ove...](http://www.b.dk/nationalt/snowden-kaster-sig-ind-i-dansk-
overvaagningsdebat)

Quite interesting.

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sschueller
Is cash still used frequently in Denmark or has this national credit card
pretty much taken over? Is cash use discouraged?

~~~
orcadk
Cash use is about on par with most other countries. Credit cards & mobile
solutions are slowly rising, but cash is still widely spread and necessary in
some cases (like paying for public transport in certain cities, etc.).

~~~
kristiandupont
Not in my experience. I almost never carry cash when in Denmark. In Copenhagen
at least, it feels like the only place where cash is required is the pølsevogn
(hotdog stands).

In Spain where I am based now, and in New York where I spend a lot of my time
as well, I always have a bit of cash on me because small purchases have to be
made with cash.

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junto
"Something is rotten in the State of Denmark" would have been a catchier
title!

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isawczuk
After famous Putin answers - Snowden asks (biased questions and completely
ignoring Ukraine case). In my opinion Snowden lost his credibility.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Why should Snowden have cared about Ukraine during that interview? It has
nothing to do with what he's known for and the information he released. The
man has ruined his entire life to bring evidence of government abuse to the
public and because he did a shitty interview on a Russian TV show he's lost
all credibility to you???

~~~
saraid216
To be fair, Snowden lost all credibility for a lot of us really early on. If
you want Snowden as your spokesman, that's fine--you're entitled to elect your
own representatives--, but recognize that he isn't everyone's spokesman.

~~~
k-mcgrady
He never claimed to be anyones spokesman - and I'm pretty sure my comment
doesn't say he is one -. He released documents to the press and let them do
the talking.

