Pro

When Americans Leak

CST 373 Ethics In Communication & Technology eDebate

Monique Yniguez, Gregory Martinez, Justine Herrera, Alexander Colin, Nicholas Moradi, Pablo Gonzalez, AnthonyJohn Avina, Ricardo Castaneda, Jeremy Gutierrez, Yanrong Huang, Eric Svendsen Shefflette, Chelsea Pyne

Problem Definition
Through the last half century there have been numerous examples of individuals releasing confidential and top secret information to the public. This period has seen the unprecedented release of government information in to the public arena. While the reasoning behind these disclosures has generally been for the publics benefit and dialogue, there has been backlash from the government for these disclosures. When should individuals within the government disclose confidential or top secret information to the public? Is it ever ethical for this to occur? Without the proper oversight, governments can become surveillance states overnight. Whistleblowing allows for an avenue to get this information out to the public, when official channels have refused to address the issue.

Historical Context
In todays age government leaks are not new because of the technology era. There have always been issues surrounding the release of confidential information. One of the first documented American leaks is during the American Revolution. In fact throughout American history there have been numerous attempts to leak secret information. Treason in our Constitution is defined by Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. In order to be convicted of treason one would have to aid the enemy in some type of way to give them an advantage over us. The United States first established the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, which allowed the United States to expel dangerous Aliens from the country; to give the president authority to arrest, detain, and deport resident aliens hailing from enemy countries during times of war; to lengthen the period of naturalization for immigrants (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ Alien+and+Sedition+Acts). This allowed the government to remove any person who has the same nationality as the nation they are currently fighting. I.E deporting a German who came from Germany during either world war. However, the Alien and Sedition Act was repealed and replaced. The Espionage Act of 1917, became a part of the United States shorty after the armistice of World War One. The Espionage Act was one big sum up of all the previous espionage laws the were created before the post-World War One world. But, in addition of the Espionage Act, there is an amendment to it called the Sedition Act of 1918 which made it illegal to disrupt sales of United States bonds during wartime, to cause a revolt within the military service, to write or say anything untrue or disloyal about any branch of military and to help production of weaponry to aid any aggressor. Since 2001, after September, Patriot Act was enabled. This act was in pure response to terrorism attacks on United States soil. In the Patriot Act it states 50 USC 1701 - 1702 Unusual and extraordinary threat; declaration of national emergency; exercise of Presidential authorities (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1701). Meaning the government can remove any person that is seen as a threat during a national emergency.
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Historical ContextContinued
In todays world we have the internet, something that wasnt around back in the World War years. The reason why the evolution of how fast information can spread is so important because it can be spread worldwide. A factor that would take days regularly before the invention of internet. For example, how quickly the NSA information was leaked, published and distributed by Snowden. Also, how Manning sent wikileaks how 700,000 federal records of how the U.S. devalued human life in the Middle East.

stakeholders
The stakeholders involved in the divulgement of classified information to the public are first the people that actually leaked the information with the possibility of getting incarcerated for defying the U.S. Government. Snowden, Manning, and Ellsberg released confidential information that they did not have authorization to, revealing information that the U.S. government wanted to keep a secret. The situation ensued by the actions that they committed, ethical or not. Next, the organizations that they leaked the information to which can be any kind of media, internet, or news source. Lastly the organizations that the leaker worked for that enabled them access to this information each of the individuals discussed had different levels of secret or top secret clearance which allowed them access in their jobs to this information. These jobs have rules and regulation for managing these types of offenses. Chelsea (Bradley) Manning Chelsea Manning who is convicted of violating the Espionage Act for turning over classified data to the website Wikileaks such as 700,000 military and state department records in effort to show that the U.S is fighting two wars had consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan., and is looking at a sentence of 35 years. The actions of Manning choosing to leak this information to the public was putting herself and her freedom at risk of being court marshaled and being convicted of espionage, fraud, and computer theft. As well as showing that the U.S. government was guilty of killing innocent civilians. Edward Snowden Who used to work for the NSA revealed how much personal information the U.S. government has access to such as phone call records and online surveillance revealing the NSAs PRISM program putting himself and the NSA at risk as well as potential damage to national security and has brought up the subject if releasing information like this might give potential terrorists a leg up on attacks be revealing surveillance programs possible putting Americans at risk.

stakeholders Continued
Daniel Ellsberg (Daniel Ellsberg former US military analyst working for RAND corporation a think tank originally started to work with the US armed forces) Was responsible for leaking a Pentagon Papers in 1971 to The New York Times revealing that the U.S, expanded its role in the Vietnam War after Lyndon B. Johnson promised not to. The New York Times reporter who printed these papers had no legal authority to print these documents and was guilty of treason. Considered as risk of National Security These are the people directly influenced by the situation and the consequences most immediately, but there are individuals indirectly related to the event that are also stakeholders in the situation. If the leaker is prosecuted, it is the responsibility of the judicial system in place or congress to hold a trial and decide what happens to the individual The next category of stakeholders would be the other organizations that are involved directly, whether this means the agencies affected by the leaks, or the prosecutors and the people that determine the consequences for the leaks. These include the leakers employers: Ellsberg was employed by RAND Corporation, Snowden by the NSA and CIA, and Manning was a US Army Soldier. The organizations that had to deal with the judgment of these three leakers include the President in office, the U.S Armed forces, as well as the U.S. government. All these organizations were involved have had to deal with the backlash that the releasing of these classified documents caused. This resulted in the public to either have a negative or positive response to each of these individuals and their actions. Other stakeholders involved would be companies that were used to help the organizations or the leakers. When Snowden released information about the Government being able to look into people and the PRISM program he not only affects the how the public views the government. It also affects the companies that are involved that revealing information to the government due to the PRISM program such as Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, Google etc (Yahoo and Facebook ask for more Transparency by Kelly, Heather).

stakeholders Continued
These companies are all put at stake and are risk of losing current users and possible users not only in the U.S. but around the world since these program views users from different countries. In Ellsberg situation when he first revealed the Pentagon Papers in 1971, the sources he used to reveal his information such as The New York Times became stakeholders as well as the reporter who copied the documents (The Break-In That History Forgot. The New York Times. Krogh, Egil) Stakeholders in the leakers case not only affects the leakers themselves but all parties involved. There are the stakeholders that are indirectly related to the case, but are affected by the information that is leaked. These include the American people, or public that receives the information because many Americans views and opinions will reflect in the response to the news and the trials. The way these cases are handled will also affect how the American people view our government and how they are handling these cases. There will either be agreement that this information should be kept secret or there will be outrage that the information divulged was kept from us. Lastly other Stakeholders relevant in this situation are countries that may have to get involved in certain situations specifically in cases of granting asylum to the leaker. In cases where the US citizen is seeking political asylum from a different nation, the leaders of these countries will have to reach an agreement together or the country could choose to give the citizen asylum. This could possibly endanger or change the foreign relations between two countries if there is disagreement with the leaders of the countries.

competitive analysis
There are several outlets for individuals to use when looking to divulge information regarding the safety and privacy of the general public. This includes traditional media like newspapers, magazines and television media sources. The other types of sources are online sources that include online news websites and anonymous news sites such as Wiki leaks and other anonymous leaking sites. When this information is coming from a source who has obtained the information either directly or indirectly from the Government, the leaker many choose to pass the information through websites such as Wikileaks, where transparency and access to information is tolerated and praised more so than many other outlets. The draw for many of publishing information through Wikileaks is that it is a safe and anonymous way to leak information to their servers. Many other outlets such as major media companies (BBC, Times, etc.) are hard pressed to publish any information received from anonymous sources as this generally makes it hard for the information to be verified or confirmed. Wikileaks has a stringent process for verifying the integrity of documents and ensuring they are real rather than forged or altered originals. The process can be found in more detail on the about section of their website (http:// wikileaks.org/About.html). There are many websites like Wikileaks where individuals can go to anonymously publish sensitive information such as government or corporate documents if they feel they should be available to the public. The list of these sites is too long to list here, but if you visit leakdirectory.org you will find an expansive list of websites to anonymously publish information. Wikileaks has been popularized with the recent publicity of cases such as Snowden, and Manning. 90% of American media is controlled by 6 companies, these include: General Electric, NewsCorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner Cable, and CBS. There are 232 media executives for these 6 companies meaning that for every 1 media executive they are responsible for the providing information to 850,000 Americans. This makes it uncomfortable for people with sensitive information. Knowing that these 6 corporations hold such a large portion of the media outlets is intimidating because it can seem as if they are able to control the censorship of the American media. This means that if an individual were to put their life and safety on the line submitting sensitive documents and these media giants decided it was in the publics best interest not to publish them, then the risk would be all for nothing. This is why many leakers choose to divulge information anonymously at sites like Wiki leaks and LeaksDirectory (http://www. 8 businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6).

economic factors
Our economy is sufficient enough to function on its own. However, the United States government has developed many agencies and organizations that do have an affects on our economy in variety of ways. These agencies usually benefit us as consumers and entrepreneurs but also perceived by some taxpayers as being harmful to our economy. Some of these harmful things are leaked information regarding operations these agencies do without citizen knowledge. The biggest economic impact from all of these leaks has come from the Snowden case. Recent leaked documents illustrated that the National Security Agency are violating peoples privacy and are spying on foreign countries. The documents also showed that United States technology companies have been ordered and compelled by court to provide their users data to the government for counter terrorism and cyber-attack prevention. This leak in particular has damaged US technology companies reputations severely as well as the US economy at the same time. Reputation is not something you can repair or restore with money. Reputation is built by quality and trust. Now, the trust has been broken with technology companies such as Google and Facebook and it will be hard to rebuild it with clients and users. Especially when everyone including foreign companies knows tech companies in US will give their confidential business data to the government, this could cause major economic backlash as users migrate to systems and companies outside the United State who have more secure systems of maintaining user privacy. Its a huge setback to the tech industries domestically. Not only did it damage tech companies reputations, but it also ruined the Unites States reputation as well. A countrys reputation is directly related with its economy and how it conducts its domestic and foreign relations. Snowdens leak also revealed that the NSA was spying on a Brazilian oil company when previously the United States government had stated that they would not conduct economic espionage. This brings the biggest economic damage to the United States as people know longer feel safe and secure conducting business within the country due to the privacy concerns now arising.

technology factors
Technology has been instrumental in the recent leaks, never before has been such vast amounts of information at the fingertips of government employees. While Ellsberg blew the whistle on the pentagon papers before this advance in technology, Manning and Snowden used their IT ability to circumvent the security policies in place to gain access to their material. Both Manning and Snowden did not have the highest level security clearance available (Eposito, 2013) and (CNN National Security Team, 2010), they managed to impersonate managers to gain the required access to Top Secret SCI information (Hopkins, 2013). Technology has also played a huge role because no longer are you required to try and sneak out a file folder containing the documents. Today you can fit hundreds of thousands of pages on a USB thumb drive the size of your fingernail. The gross mismanagement of government systems can be faulted for allowing the disclosure of sensitive information. For instance, Snowden was able to remove and or modify the logging system that the NSA used to keep track of users (Goldman, 2013). These logs are part of the auditing system put in place to prevent malicious use of government services and to determine if users are accessing information they do not have the clearance for. Providing low level administrators with this sort of root access can only be viewed as a mistake on the governments part. Whistleblowers today also have an easier time getting their information in the public domain because of technology. They no longer are required to set up face to face meetings with reporters; they can simply place the information in an anonymous drop box, such as Wikileaks. According to reports, (Maass, 2013) Snowden sent instructions on how to setup a secure email service via email to the reporters he was hoping to work with. This type of secure communication takes most of the risk out of leaking sensitive information. This type of communication was not possible when Ellsberg leaked the pentagon papers in the 1960s, and he was forced to meet face to face with reporters. The ability to anonymous send documents to media outlets, and communicate with them via secure and encrypted email will only encourage individuals to whistle blow. These methods of communication allow the media members to keep their sources confidential, and allow whistleblowers the ability to hopefully avoid some of the political repercussions that occur.

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recommendations
Throughout the last 2 administrations the U.S. government has become progressively more secretive. The amount of information that is hidden from the public has exploded exponentially. When members of the legislative branch or the public ask for government proof, the executive branch hides behind its state secrets ethos. The information that has been leaked by Snowden, Manning, and Ellsberg are all in response to the government directly misleading the American public on important and controversial issues. To prevent the disclosure of classified information, the government should take a more transparent stance on the controversial issues. Snowden, Manning, and Ellsberg did not reveal any state secret information that warranted being withheld from the American public. To remove whistleblowing or leaking from the equation and to prevent this unauthorized release, the government should institute a few steps. Namely: creating avenues to voice concern over overreaching actions, redefine the laws that govern treason and enemy combatant status, and create a public forum to discuss controversial issues instead of concealing them. Creating a much clearer process for individual government employees and service members to voice their concern would be the first step in helping to eliminate whistleblowing. Both Snowden and Manning tried to file grievances, and these were halted by their superiors. It is not beneficial to have these agencies and policies if the complaints will just fall on deaf ears. There is little to gain and everything to lose when individuals feel they are being brushed aside. This was the case with both Manning and Snowden, this process should be refined and allow for grievances to be filed outside of your agency if there is no investigation. Creating a public forum or even for allowing the Senate and Congress to publicly debate controversial issues, like the NSA spying program, where all Senators and Congresspeople are allowed to publicly discuss the issues they have. Having secret, behind closed doors, cannot voice opposition for fear of political fallout type meetings have become the norm in Washington. It is time that the American people can hear what their elected officials are approving and how THEIR representatives are representing them. It is time for the government to become transparent; it is difficult to elect someone if you cannot tell if they support programs like the NSA spying program, extraordinary rendition, and black sites.

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recommendations Continued
Redefining what treason is, and an enemy combatant consists of would be beneficial. These laws should not be applied to individuals who expose government malfeasants. Additionally, if Snowden were in the U.S. he probably would have been charged with treason, every senator who opposes his actions have proclaimed that in public. Both treason and enemy combatants are so vaguely defined that they could be applied to anyone with little to no evidence; this should be corrected. If an individual is helping the American people they should not be charged with a crime that can result in the death penalty, simply because they came forward with evidence of illegal government acts for the purpose of trying to make changes in what they believe to be unethical procedures in our government.

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Pros & Cons

The information that has been disclosed throughout the last 60 years has generally been weighed for the security and the public awareness benefit it will have. This information: Pentagon papers, Snowden dump, and the Manning leaks, have created successfully created a national dialogue on the issues leaked. This public dialogue is one of the main reasons for the leaks that have occurred during this, the information was leaked for one reason: public awareness of controversial issues that are hidden from individual citizens. Without adequate channels for government contractors and service members to travel through, the government can willfully break laws that different branches of government enact to protect the U.S. and its citizens. The whistleblowing laws, as defined in (U.S. Special Counsel, 5 U.S.C. 1213(c)), provide for an official channel for employees to pursue if they feel they have a grievance. But all to often, these complaints are simply discarded without a full investigation. According to Ian Drury(Drury, 2013), Snowden did in fact use these proper channels and discussed his issues with his superiors but was ignored. If this is the way that dissent or concern is handled throughout the intelligence community, it appears that these whistleblowers have no other option. There have been cases throughout history of individuals leaking information to foreign governments or corporations for personal gain, this is one of the main opposing viewpoints. This type of leaking of secrets is not considered to be whistleblowing, and therefore we are against any type of information leaked for personal gain. One example of this would be Benjamin Bishop (Frieden, 2013), who leaked military information to a Chinese lover. He was charged with willfully communicating national defense information among other counts, while the government has not been able to establish a connection to the Chinese government, it appears reading through different articles that Bishop was attempting to personally gain from the communication of these secrets. This type of leaking has no public benefit, and therefore should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. While the distribution of classified government material can harm the U.S., the recent leaks have done little to no harm, with the exception of the U.S. having to save face with some Allies that they have misled regarding their actions. There have been no state secrets leaked that have caused American lives to be lost, even the information leaked by Chelsea (Bradley) Manning was purely political.
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Pros & Cons Continued

If government agencies are willfully disregarding the constitution and cannot police themselves, more whistleblowers are needed, to create a dialogue throughout congress, the senate, and public to curb the disastrous policies put in place by a select few of very powerful and vindictive executive branch members. The benefit of these disclosures far outweighs any implications from leaking information for the good of the American public. Further, prosecuting whistleblowers for treason or aiding and abetting the enemy only proves that the government has something to hide. Making an example out of Edward Snowden should only push would be whistleblowers to come forward and expose government overreach and illegal acts, not surpress it. America can not turn into a surveillance state, like China and Saudi Arabia, where citizens are picked up off the street for sending a text message with a specific word in it.

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References
Historical Contex Alien and Sedition Acts legal definition of Alien and Sedition Acts. Alien and Sedition Acts synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary. (n.d.). Legal Dictionary. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Alien+and+Sedition+Acts Famous Leaks in U.S. History History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. (n.d.). History. com History Made Every Day American & World History. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from http://www.history.com/topics/famous-leaks-in-us-history The 8 Craziest Intelligence Leaks in US History | Watergate, Wikileaks & NSA-Verizon Surveillance | LiveScience . (n.d.). Science News Science Articles and Current Events | LiveScience . Retrieved September 16, 2013, from http://www.livescience.com/37357-us-intelligence-leaks.html History News Network. (n.d.). History News Network. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://hnn.us/article/152272 BBC News - NSA spy leaks: Edward Snowden leaves Moscow airport. (n.d.).BBC - Homepage. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23535524 BBC News - Edward Snowden: Timeline. (n.d.). BBC - Homepage. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23768248 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_ Rosenberg Stakeholders Kelly, Heather. Yahoo and Facebook ask for more NSA transparency. CNN 01 Jan. 1970. Cable News Network. 15 Sept. 2013 Krogh, Egil. OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; The Break-In That History Forgot. The New York Times. 30 June 2007. The New York Times. 15 Sept. 2013 The Three leakers: Ellsberg, Manning, and Snowden : The New Yorker. (n.d.). The New Yorker. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/06/ daniel-ellsberg-and-edward-snowden.html

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References Continued
Stakeholders Continued Check, T. (n.d.). Manning, Snowden, and Ellsberg: Why one is not like the others | The World Outline. The World Outline | Outline your world with news, comment and features on the latest international developments. . Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://theworldoutline.com/2013/07/manningsnowden-ellsberg-why-one-not-like-others/ Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning : The Two-Way : NPR. (n.d.). NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/03/208602113/pentagonpapers-leaker-daniel-ellsberg-praises-snowden-manning Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations | World news | The Guardian . (n.d.). Latest news, world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | theguardian. com | The Guardian . Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/ jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance Snowden Asylum Hits U.S.-Russia Relations - WSJ.com. (n.d.). The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News & Video - Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732368190 4578641610474568782.html Daniel Ellsberg, the Original Big Leaker | New Republic. (n.d.). New Republic. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113625/daniel-ellsberg-edward-snowden-andbradley-manning-leakers Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy - CNN.com. (n.d.). CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.cnn. com/2013/07/30/justice/manning-court-martial Dishneau, D. (n.d.). Bradley Manning, who now goes by the name Chelsea, seeks presidential pardon | Deseret News. Salt Lake City and Utah Breaking news, sports, entertainment and news headlines Deseret News. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765637105/ Chelsea-Manning-seeks-presidential-pardon.html Serrano, R. A. (n.d.). Chelsea Manning is seeking a presidential pardon - latimes.com. Los Angeles Times - California, national and world news - latimes.com. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-chelsea-manning-seekspardon-20130904,0,3757354.story

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References Continued
Competitive Analysis Lutz - http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-inamerica-2012-6 LeakDirectory - http://leakdirectory.org/index.php/Leak_Site_Directory About Wikileaks - http://wikileaks.org/About.html Economic Factors LeakDirectory. (n.d.). LeakDirectory. Retrieved September 8, 2013, from http://leakdirectory.org/ index.php/Leak_Site_Directory#WikiLeaks-Like_Whistle_blowing_Sites These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America - Business Insider. (n.d.). Business Insider. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporationscontrol-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6 Snowden s Leaks on China Could Affect Its Role in His Fate - NYTimes.com. (n.d.).The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http:// www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/world/asia/ex-nsa-contractors-disclosures-could-complicate-his-fate. html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Ex-CIA chief: What Edward Snowden did - CNN.com. (n.d.). CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from http://www.cnn. com/2013/07/19/opinion/hayden-snowden-impact/index.html Booz Allen U.S. Contracts Seen at Risk With Leaked Secrets - Bloomberg. (n.d.).Bloomberg Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes. Retrieved September 13, 2013, from http:// www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/booz-allen-contracts-seen-at-risk-with-leaked-governmentsecrets.html

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References Continued
Technology Factors Eposito - http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/29/20234171-snowden-impersonatednsa-officials-sources-say?lite Maass - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?ref=magazine&_ r=0 Goldman - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/24/snowden-nsa-leak-electroniclogs/2695641/ Hopkins - http://www.dailydot.com/politics/edward-snowden-accused-impersonating-nsa-officials/ CNN National Security Team - http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/02/wikileaks.suspect/index.html Recommendations Pros & Cons Drury - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338534/Edward-Snowden-speaks-NSA-contractorleaked-details-surveillance-scheme-reveals-himself.html U.S. Special Counsel - http://www.osc.gov/5USC1213process.htm# Bishop - http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/world/us-china-spy/index.html

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