NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is "no hero" according to Bill Gates, despite admitting he is worried by the privacy issues the scandal has raised.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the Microsoft founder said that, as he thought Snowden "broke the law", he wouldn't "characterise him as a hero."
"If he wanted to raise the issues and stay in the country and engage in civil disobedience or something of that kind, or if he had been careful in terms of what he had released, then it would fit more of the model of 'OK, I'm really trying to improve things.' You won't find much admiration from me," Gates told the publication.
He said that while there has to be a debate over privacy and the issues raised by Snowden, such debate could stifle the US government's ability to carry out intelligence work.
"There has to be a debate. But the specific techniques they use become unavailable if they're discussed in detail," he said.
Gated added that any debate also needs to consider the general notion of the circumstances under which government bodies can do things.
He said the way governments use surveillance has led to difficult questions, but those who advocate that information on the extent of government snooping should be out in the open are "not being very articulate right now".
Gates' view of Snowden comes after web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee weighed in on the subject.
In a Reddit AMA (Ask Me anything), Sir Tim said that Snowden "should be protected, and we should have ways of protecting people like him."
"Because we can try to design perfect systems of government, and they will never be perfect, and when they fail, then the whistleblower may be all that saves society," said Sir Tim.
