WikiLeaks Releases Over 92,000 Secret Documents - Is It Ethical?
WikiLeaks released over 92,000 secret documents pertaining the war in Afghanistan. The documents are "raw intelligence logs", that is reports from soldiers. According to the Pentagon, these reports are collected and analyzed before any action can be taken related to the event or situation described. Although they are considered fairly low in the hierarchy of secrecy, they give enough level of detail to be damaging both the military and the individuals listed in the reports.
The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange (above), wants to make the company a respectable news outlet that utilizes unconventional means of gathering information, such as hacking and using insiders willing to copy confidential information. Since WikiLeaks considers itself an new organization, it sticks to the traditional policy of protecting its sources. We've seen a similar situation with Apple's stolen iPhone and Gizmodo.
It will be interesting to see how the government response to this situation. Will it try to seize the documents (there are already published in three different countries: US, UK, and Germany)? Will it try to find the "collaborators" and press charges against them, as they tried with the Apple situation? Although some members of Congress welcome the information disclosed, they can't overlook the method in which it was obtained. Will they use this opportunity to create new laws about privacy and journalist/source confidentiality for the web?
It will probably take awhile for all these to sort out; after all, there is a lot to swallow at once. It will be interesting to see how it will play out and how far questionably obtained information, distributed over the Internet will change the way we think about privacy and confidentiality.
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