Snowden was a contractor working for the government and had access to classified information. Yes, we have thousands of civilian contractors working for the Gov. They asked me to come back as a working "consultant" but I declined because I enjoyed traveling with my family and as a contractor, my wife would not be traveling with me. Especially, to some of the less than desirable countries I would be working in.

Classified information is ALWAYS stored in secured locations, in safes/vaults or on secured and encrypted electronic media, such as a closed and encrypted computer network. It can never/NEVER be mingled accidentally on an open system such as the Internet because it is a totally different system. The only way that anyone could transmit classified information via an email account on the Internet is if it was purposely moved from one location to another and installed onto the open network. If classified information is discussed on an open network, then that is also a violation, because it is still classified whether marked as such or not. Only the originator is allowed to give declassification instructions. Destruction of classified material must be documented and witnessed. I am paraphrasing and not giving exact quotes of the regulations/laws pertaining to the handling of classified.