On May 2, more than 350 people gathered at the Friend Center at Princeton University to watch a live discussion between and journalist Barton Gellman '82, a visiting professor at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Edward Snowden, former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who was charged espionage after leaking documents about NSA intelligence programs. Snowden participated in the conversation, which was webcast live, by way of a Google Hangout from Russia, the country that granted him asylum.

The event was sponsored by the Center for Information Technology, the Program in Law and Public Affairs and the Woodrow Wilson School.

The hourlong discussion was part of a yearlong effort by the Woodrow Wilson School to highlight the complexity surrounding security and technology. In fall 2014, the Woodrow Wilson School hosted George Ellard, inspector general of the NSA, and in spring 2015 Princeton University hosted Michael Rogers, director admiral of the NSA.