Julian Paul Assange (born 3 July 1971) is an Australian computer programmer, publisher and journalist. He is known as the editor-in-chief of the website WikiLeaks, which he founded in 2006 after an earlier career in hacking and programming. WikiLeaks achieved particular prominence in 2010 when it published U.S. military and diplomatic documents leaked by Chelsea Manning. Assange has been under investigation in the United States since that time. In the same year, the Swedish Director of Public Prosecution opened an investigation into four sexual offences that Assange allegedly committed. In 2012, facing extradition to Sweden, he sought refuge at the Embassy of Ecuador in London and was granted political asylum by Ecuador.
Edward Joseph Snowden (born 21 June 1983) is a computer professional, former CIA employee, and former contractor for the US Government who presumably copied classified information from the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) for public disclosure in 2013 without prior authorization. The information revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and Five Eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments.
On 21 June 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of US Government or foreign government property. On June 23, he flew to Moscow, Russia, where he reportedly remained for over a month. Later that summer, Russian authorities granted him one-year asylum which was later extended to three years. As of 2015, he was still living in an undisclosed location in Russia while seeking asylum elsewhere.
