Edward Snowden's digital life: The online presence of the NSA leaker

Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, speaks to The Guardian from Hong Kong on Sunday, June 9, 2013. (The Guardian)

One of the most talked about men in America is a man many know little about. Edward Snowden claims to be responsible for one of the largest national security leaks in U.S. history, and yet he lacks an overt web presence, with no clear profile on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

But after a bit of digging, and pulling on threads, the government contractor’s facade of privacy began to unravel.

A high school drop-out with a talent for computers, Snowden worked in the intelligence field for more than a decade, taking a security guard job at the NSA, working in the CIA, and getting hired by a government contractor.

Early Internet postings paint a portrait of a man deeply involved in web culture, supporting Internet piracy, and troubled by the government’s access to private computers.

Reuters reported Wednesday that as a young man Ed Snowden worked at a now-defunct Art website called Ryuhana Press. A Twitter user by the name @nelikli was able to find Snowden’s company bio.

On that page a man with the same name as Snowden, and with the same listed birthday, talks about his interest in Japan, video games, and girls. He also says one of his nicknames is TheTrueHooHA.

A quick Google search leads to the forum section of the tech website Ars Technica, and the account TheTrueHOOHA. Started in December 2001, it has more than 700 posts.

In one post, TheTrueHOOHA gives his email address to another user as “ed [art] clockworkchihuahua.com” -- the same email address listed on Ryuhana Press.

In most of the forums TheTrueHOOHA chats with other users about current events and technology, taking issue with the recording industry’s litigious approach to file sharing, and complaining about the high price of video games, saying in 2003, “Piracy is today's boycott.”

In 2006, responding to another post asking about a career in the military, TheTrueHOOHA writes:

“I have no degree, nor even a high school diploma, but I'm making much more than what they're paying you even though I'm only claiming six years of experience. It's tough to ‘break in,’ but once you land a ‘real’ position, you're made.”

In February 2010, TheTrueHOOHA writes about wire-tapping: “It really concerns me how little this sort of corporate behavior bothers those outside of technology circles.”

He adds: “Did we get to where we are today via a slippery slope that was entirely within our control to stop, or was it an relatively instantaneous sea change that sneaked in undetected because of pervasive government secrecy?”

In another posting, soliciting photographs of users, the account posts this photo. It appears to be a young Ed Snowden.