Intelexit campaign asks NSA and GCHQ employees to quit jobs

A group of privacy campaigners called Intelexit is encouraging employees of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to quit their jobs and consider the morality of their work as spies.

Berlin-based Intelexit started the campaign on Monday by posting billboard ads near the agencies’ headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland and London, while a van roamed Fort Meade broadcasting Intelexit’s pro-privacy messages. Fliers with information about how employees can receive support and counselling were also handed out.

Intelexit posted the message, “the intelligence community needs a backdoor,” on a billboard near the London headquarters of GCHQ, reported WIRED. Its website presents six arguments as to why employees of both intelligence agencies should quit their jobs.

One of the arguments claims spy agencies pry into the lives of their employees more than they do with ordinary citizens. The site also points out how the agencies are heartless enough to leave the families of their employees in the dark, knowing nothing about their loved ones’ jobs.

NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake joined the group, saying his own difficult experiences will serve as an eye opener for other NSA agents still working for the agency. He was earlier charged with leaking classified documents and was fired. It was later determined he wasn’t guilty of the offense brought against him.

The Intelexit campaign is set to go on, with the group saying it will continue using emails, faxes and phone calls to get employees to quit.