Edward Snowden has slammed governments such as the USA, UK and Australia, calling for them to stop “weasling their way out” by calling mass surveillance terms like “bulk collection.”

Speaking in a video interview at FutureFest in London, Snowden defended spying as a whole, but wanted surveillance to be done for a purpose and not to be conducted over all of us.

He referenced both the Sydney siege and Charlie Hedbo attacks, noting that the attackers in both incidents were known to governments already.

“They’re not going to stop the next attacks either,” he said. “Because they’re not public safety programs. They’re spying programs.”

“But the question that we as a society have to ask, are our collective rights worth a small advantage in our ability to spy,” Snowden added.