Glenn Greenwald started his career as an attorney, but his biggest work and impact came years later, as one of the few journalists Edward Snowden trusted to report on the National Security Agency's mass surveillance activities. What the Snowden leaks disclosed was ultimately a surveillance apparatus far beyond the imagination of even some the legislators who aided in creating its legal groundwork.

Greenwald, who calls himself “a recovering attorney,” blames much of the surveillance overreach on a system that has far outpaced its ability to apply constitutional checks on its own power. And front and center in the blame, he believes, is the judiciary.

Legaltech News sat down with Greenwald to discuss just what statutes support modern surveillance activities, courts' interpretations of those statutes, and the ongoing tension between privacy and security in today's society.