Google's Larry Page, Edward Snowden, and the NSA's Rick Ledgett all spoke at TED this week on the National Security Agency's surveillance. Here are the highlights.

SXSW Interactive this year was notable for its unusual focus on serious and global issues. What usually is a marketing, media, and tech bacchanal was punctuated this year by somber sessions featuring Glenn Greenwald, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden talking about the future of the internet after the NSA revelations. The TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) Conference -- another generally utopian gathering -- picked up that discussion this week with Larry Page, CEO of Google, and ex-NSA contractor and leaker Edward Snowden. This time, the NSA joined in the dialogue.

Snowden at TED

On Monday, TED 2014 kicked off the NSA sessions with Edward Snowden, still beaming in from an undisclosed location in Russia as in his SXSW appearance. But at TED, Snowden's virtual presence was amplified (or perhaps undercut) by being transmitted into a BEAM telepresence robot, which is like a corporate Roomba with a teleconferencing video screen and camera attached. Snowden could control the robot from Russia, so "he" rolled onto the stage when introduced by TED host Chris Anderson.

Much of Snowden's talk reflected other public appearances he's recently made, encouraging NSA reform, blaming the U.S. Government for making the internet a less secure place and hurting the tech industry, and making the case that he shouldn't be persecuted for whistleblowing, as a journalistic activity. Snowden also promised that the biggest revelations about the NSA were yet to come.

An interesting moment happened later in this lengthy TED talk, where the World Wide Web's creator, Tim Berners-Lee, got up on stage to talk to Snowden about his Web at 25 civil initiative and called Snowden a "hero."

Page's View

Larry Page talked to Charlie Rose in another long-form TED segment on Wednesday, winding through several different subjects. When it came to the NSA, Page said, "It's tremendously disappointing that our government did this and didn't tell us," making a rare public criticism (for Page) of the agency. "I don't think we can have a democracy if we're having to protect you and our users from the government for stuff that we never had a conversation about."

"The world is changing," said Page later, calling for more transparency. "You carry a phone, it knows where you are. There's so much more information about you. The main thing we need to do is provide people choice -- show them what kind of information is getting collected."

The NSA Joins the Discussion

In what is much more rare than even Larry Page speaking publically on the NSA mass surveillance revelations, the NSA (virtually) sent its Deputy Director Rich Ledgett to talk, last minute, to the TED crowd.

Of course, Ledgett's opinion of Snowden wasn't favorable, as he said Snowden had alternatives to speak up about the NSA's programs other than spiriting away a trove of documents and talking to the press. Ledgett said Snowden's actions were not whistleblowing, and that he "put lives at risk in the long run."

Ledgett said the discussion over the NSA, based on leaked information from Snowden, was important, but had been misinformed. "There were some kernels of truth in there, but a lot of extrapolations and half-truths," said Ledgett, saying that the conversation about the NSA's activities needed to be more "fact-based," although how the public was supposed to get facts about the NSA outside of Snowden's leak is unclear.

However, Ledgett admitted that the NSA needs some reform, saying, "We need to be more transparent, but not in a way that allows the bad guys to counter."