Merriam Webster defines whistleblowing as:
> one who reveals something covert or who informs against another especially : an employee who brings wrongdoing by an employer or by other employees to the attention of a government or law enforcement agency
Wikipedia further asserts:
> Whistleblowing is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed wrongful – whether it be illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical, or fraudulent
Arguably, nothing the NSA was doing was illegal. Was Snowden not a whistleblower?
> Arguably, nothing the NSA was doing was illegal.
The Supreme Court disagreed; the surveillance program was illegal.