Edward Snowden is a US citizen who worked as a former Intelligence Community Officer. Some might consider him a whistleblower. Edward Snowden revealed government documents obtained by him to the American public. These documents contained information regarding the NSA's mass surveillance programs. These programs including PRISM, Boundless Informant, and Bull Run, were shown to be operating without any public oversight and outside of the limits of the US Constitution. Because of this some might consider him a hero and some might consider him a traitor. A "hero" is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. A "traitor" is a person who betrays a friend, country, or principle. People could argue from either side depending on their beliefs. However, it is not as important to label him either a "hero" or a "traitor" as much as it is important to look at what he has done, why he has done it, and the thought behind it, as well as the content of the information being released.
Most of the time programs, like the ones mentioned, are created under the need to protect national security. Edward Snowden seems to think however that this reasoning is use far too much and is used as a cover reason for most programs to initiate them. This is because it instills a sense of worry and often times will give the illusion of something being necessary when it is not. Some spying can be good. If and only if it actually is done for a good reason, like national security, and not as a cover.
"Ignorance is bliss". Under this saying it is believed that as long as you don't know about something you do not need to worry about it. It is hard to argue with this. Some might question whether things would be better if Edward Snowden has not shared the info he did. However, is that really the case? Some also go along with "if you are not doing anything wrong, you do not need to worry". Again however, what is wrong? Without knowing the information Edward Snowden shared how is one suppose to know certain things he or she does is wrong? Someone might not think some of the things that they did before the documents were leaked were wrong but the NSA might still have an interest in their activities for whatever reason. Perhaps they liked something on Facebook, bought a collection of items off Amazon that seemed suspicious, ended up on a website that they did not know was under watch, or a variety of other reasons.
Unfortunately for Edward Snowden he is still in hiding somewhere trying to avoid extradition. Some people in the United States however are still separated on the thoughts of whether or not Edward Snowden is a "hero" or "traitor". Some people, especially in the government, view him as a traitor. He has a decent sized following here in the United States of people who also consider him a hero among them. Unfortunately, there are some other people who still do not know what to consider him. For some this could be because they haven't decided what he is to them. For others it could be that they do not have an interest in what he has done and wish not to be bothered with deciding what he is to them. Because of this it is hard to say whether or not Edward Snowden's case would be handled fairly if he were to return to the United States.