MANILA, Philippines – Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden called on developers over the weekend to build systems that protect personal privacy and security by design.

Speaking via videolink at the Hackers on Planet Earth Conference (HOPE X), Snowden once again asked the technology sector to increase privacy-protecting technology in tech products.

According to TechCrunch, Snowden discussed the importance of building new privacy-protecting protocols and technological infrastructures.

“It doesn’t end at encryption; it starts at encryption,” noted Snowden. “Encryption protects the content but we forget about associations…. These programs like Section 215 [of the Patriot Act] and mass surveillance in general is not about surveilling you, it’s not about surveilling me. It’s about surveilling us collectively. It’s about watching the company, for everybody in the country and on a global scale.

“This is basically a big data program which provides the raw data that can then be analyzed, it can be filtered, it can be subjected to rules, for example…. It says everything you do is being analyzed, it’s being weighted, it’s being measured and that’s without regard to whether or not you’ve done anything wrong.”

According to tech website Re/Code, Snowden also said, without elaborating, that he was going to be “involved in” working on the problem of embedding security into technology himself. 

“We the people – you the people, you in this room right now – have both the means and the capability to help build a better future by encoding our rights into the programs and protocols upon which we rely every day,” Snowden said.

“And that’s what a lot of my future work is going to be involved in, and I hope you’ll join me…in making that a reality,” he added.

Watch the 86-minute discussion with Edward Snowden below

– Rappler.com