My guess is that Snowden has quite an elaborate contingency system in place and has not actually revealed how it all works. Schneier seems to be speculating bas

My guess is that Snowden has quite an elaborate contingency system in place and has not actually revealed how it all works. Schneier seems to be speculating based on a Wired article, based on nontechnical explanations by Greenwald, based on (probably limited) information provided by Snowden. Snowden noted Russia and China have an "open door" policy. Although they might like the raw data, I don't think that either would want to Snowden expire under their protection. That would make them look quite unappealing to anyone considering being a "walk in" informant in the future. So for the time being, Snowden is the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs and for everyone involved is worth much more alive. But once he's in a small South American country, things might change.