After Edward Snowden, computer specialist and former Central Intelligence Agency employee, leaked information on the United States government’s surveillance programs last May, the general public has remained divided in their opinion of whether or not Snowden is a hero. The Reason-Rupe poll conducted September 4-8 of this year interviewed 1013 adults.  The poll revealed that 39 percent of Americans think that Snowden is a “traitor for leaking government secrets.” 35 percent of Americans say that he is a “patriot for letting the public know about the government’s surveillance programs,” and sixteen percent of Americans have mixed feelings on Snowden.

So, who is Edward Snowden? Snowden dropped out of high school, joined the U.S. Army in 2003, and began training with the Special Forces. However, he was forced to leave when he broke both his legs in a training accident. Since then, he has had careers in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Despite his lack of a formal education, Snowden quickly rose through the ranks due to his outstanding computer skills. He lived in Hawaii with his girlfriend until he leaked the information this past May.

In May 2013, Snowden revealed to British newspaper The Guardian that U.S. intelligence had been carrying out widespread and illegal phone and Internet surveillance of American citizens and other nations. In May, Snowden exposed the fact that the N.S.A. has access to user data from U.S. Internet companies, including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Skype; despite the fact that General Keith Alexander, director of the N.S.A., denied fourteen times that the agency had the ability to intercept different types of online communications. He explained his reasoning in an interview with The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald: “I don’t wanna live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity, or love, or friendship is recorded, and that’s not something I’m willing to support; it’s not something I’m willing to build, and it’s not something I’m willing to live under.” Journalists who interviewed Snowden in Hong Kong described him as “quiet, smart, easy-going and self-effacing; a master of computers.”

Edward Snowden left the United States on May 20, seeking asylum in Hong Kong, despite his ideal choice being Iceland. Snowden was formally sacked from his job on June 11. The U.S. charged him with “theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified communications intelligence” on June 14, 2013. Each of the charges carries a maximum ten-year prison sentence. Snowden boarded an Aeroflot Flight to Moscow, Russia on June 23. In Russia, he remained in a transit zone for over a month after the U.S. revoked his travel documents. He was finally granted asylum in Russia for one year on August 1, 2013. Currently, Snowden resides in Russia at an undisclosed residence.

Those who think that Edward Snowden is a hero or whistleblower argue that Snowden’s leaks didn’t contain any military plans, secret conversations, or identities of U.S. agents and targeted individuals. They also reason that news of the U.S. was monitoring Facebook and Google accounts wouldn’t have come as a surprise to any serious terrorists. They believe that Snowden has done a service to the United States as he has uncovered questionable activities by the authorities.

Those who believe that Edward Snowden is a traitor and a criminal argue that Snowden has damaged the defense abilities of the U.S. He has fled to China and Russia, two major competitors of the United States. If Snowden is not careful, then American secrets could end up in the hands of America’s rivals. James Clapper, the director of Nation Intelligence, states that Snowden’s leaks have caused “huge, grave damage” to “our intelligence abilities.”

Snowden’s leaks have sparked a serious debate and the public remains divided in their opinion of Snowden’s position as a hero or a traitor.