UK says Snowden leaks hurt its national security, could expose spies
Leaks by a fugitive US intelligence contractor have damaged Britain's national security, and the data he gave journalists includes information that might expose the identities of British spies, a government official told the High Court in London.
The official said Brazilian David Miranda, the partner of a Guardian newspaper journalist, was carrying a computer hard-drive containing 58,000 highly classified intelligence documents when he was detained at Heathrow airport earlier this month.
Miranda's partner Glenn Greenwald has led the Guardian's coverage of leaks from Edward Snowden, a former contractor at the US National Security Agency (NSA), about US and British surveillance of phone and Internet users. In a written statement to the court at Friday's hearing, Oliver Robbins, Britain's Deputy National Security Adviser for Intelligence, Security and Resilience, said media stories about the documents seized from Miranda had already caused harm.
