Google hands over Wikileaks staffers data

[Trik'Stari]

So I found this whilst browsing around this morning.

 

Source: http://gizmodo.com/google-handed-stacks-of-wikileaks-email-straight-to-the-1681758103

More Details: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/25/wikileaks-google-staff-emails-us-government

 

 

 

WikiLeaks is demanding explanations, after it's come to light that Google gave the FBI emails and digital data belonging to three WikiLeaks staff members when warrants were served in March 2012.

It's taken almost three years for Google to admit to WikiLeaks that it handed over the data to U.S. authorities. In a letter to Eric Schmidt, WikiLeaks explains that it's "astonished and disturbed" that Google waited so long to notify it. It points out that the long delay could have hindered the organization's chances to protect it rights to "privacy, association and freedom from illegal searches." The letter demands Google list all the content it supplied to FBI and enquires as to whether Google attempted to challenge the warrants.

 

 

All of this coming from the administration that originally claimed that it would be the "most transparent administration ever". While some people might have a problem with Wikileaks, remember that this administration has secured more jail time for whistleblowers than the all of the past presidents in US history combined, source: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/01/obama-imprisoned-whistleblowers-times-longer-presidents-combined.html

 

So. What do we think?

[Geekazoid]

Isn't this a bit hypocritical? :huh:

[patrickjp93]

Don't get me wrong: we need whistleblowers, but wiki leaks has put our military at risk several times and has been instigating violence without any discretion when it comes to controversial policies or actions when it never knows the full story. More than half the time wiki leaks causes more harm than good.

[CaptainWASD]

Why do we treat Google differently when every other company in the U.S caves to the feds, why wouldn't Google? They are a corporation and their main goal is to make money, they can't do that if the feds are breathing fire down their throats. The real news here is the U.S government is demanding companies to hand over data with empty warrants under arbitrary laws.

[Trik'Stari]

Why do we treat Google differently when every other company in the U.S caves to the feds, why wouldn't Google? They are a corporation and their main goal is to make money, they can't do that if the feds are breathing fire down their throats. The real news here is the U.S government is demanding companies to hand over data with empty warrants under arbitrary laws.

I think that is the bigger problem, this just happens to have been google this time around. And in all fairness, google has a hell of a lot longer reach than most other companies.

 

Don't get me wrong: we need whistleblowers, but wiki leaks has put our military at risk several times and has been instigating violence without any discretion when it comes to controversial policies or actions when it never knows the full story. More than half the time wiki leaks causes more harm than good.

Possible yes, but the point still stands that whistleblowers will and have been prosecuted for doing their jobs

 

Isn't this a bit hypocritical? :huh:

Entirely.

[patrickjp93]

I think that is the bigger problem, this just happens to have been google this time around. And in all fairness, google has a hell of a lot longer reach than most other companies.

Possible yes, but the point still stands that whistleblowers will and have been prosecuted for doing their jobs

Entirely.

There are protections for whistleblowers who don't threaten lives with their actions. Discretion is the better part of valor.

[Trik'Stari]

There are protections for whistleblowers who don't threaten lives with their actions. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Again, this administration has imprisoned more people for whistleblowing than all previous presidents combined. Just being a whistleblower is not really an option anymore. Why do you think Snowden fled the country the way he did? He didn't want to end up like this guy

http://www.truthandaction.org/fema-camp-martial-law-movie-creator-found-dead-wife-5-year-old-daughter-apparent-murder-suicide/

 

You read about him, and every single person who knew him personally and worked with him says the same thing "no way this was a double murder suicide, he was happy and healthy and not a violent person"

[patrickjp93]

Again, this administration has imprisoned more people for whistleblowing than all previous presidents combined. Just being a whistleblower is not really an option anymore. Why do you think Snowden fled the country the way he did? He didn't want to end up like this guy

http://www.truthandaction.org/fema-camp-martial-law-movie-creator-found-dead-wife-5-year-old-daughter-apparent-murder-suicide/

You read about him, and every single person who knew him personally and worked with him says the same thing "no way this was a double murder suicide, he was happy and healthy and not a violent person"

We hear about people cracking all the time. Brain tumor, drug reaction, small stroke, sleeping defect... I'm not saying there isn't room for debate, but you're jumping to conclusions purely to date your will to demonize the government.

[Trik'Stari]

We hear about people cracking all the time. Brain tumor, drug reaction, small stroke, sleeping defect... I'm not saying there isn't room for debate, but you're jumping to conclusions purely to date your will to demonize the government.

Fair enough, still seems highly suspicious, you can't deny that.

[AlwaysFSX]

Don't get me wrong: we need whistleblowers, but wiki leaks has put our military at risk several times and has been instigating violence without any discretion when it comes to controversial policies or actions when it never knows the full story. More than half the time wiki leaks causes more harm than good.

Yeah, some things the people just don't need to know.

[patrickjp93]

Fair enough, still seems highly suspicious, you can't deny that.

I'm not denying it. I'm saying there is plenty of room for debate and further investigation. I'm just saying the conspiracy theorists need to be put on a leash and heeled for 10 minutes.

[SIGSEGV]

That's disgusting, Google has become like the embodiment of Sabu as a corporation

[Victorious Secret]

when warrants were served in March 2012.

 

 

Oh shut the hell up Wikileaks, you pompous pricks. You go around leaking information that sometimes is classified so average joes don't die (mainly soldiers and operatives) and yet you're crying like 12 year olds because someone did the same thing to you? Really? 

Also, WARRANTS. Google kinda has to follow what a warrant says unless they're feeling lucky and feel like challenging the DoJ on a federally issued warrant. 

 

 

"privacy, association and freedom from illegal searches."

 

 

Oh piss off. You don't get to pillage secured information and release it and then cry wolf when someone does the same to you. Nope. Not how life works. 

Also, warrants can come with "you don't talk about this" gag orders. Google might not have wanted to talk about it at all. Google might have been told to wait X amount of time before informing other parties. Who knows? 

God, what a bunch of hypocritical goons. 

[SIGSEGV]

You go around leaking information that sometimes is classified so average joes don't die (mainly soldiers and operatives) and yet you're crying like 12 year olds because someone did the same thing to you? Really?

Sure, that's why it's all classified... Not because of the fact that they government wants keep all hush-hush about crap that went on in places like Iraq

Not to say that all of it is classified because the government is trying to hide something, but alot of it is

[Trik'Stari]

Oh shut the hell up Wikileaks, you pompous pricks. You go around leaking information that sometimes is classified so average joes don't die (mainly soldiers and operatives) and yet you're crying like 12 year olds because someone did the same thing to you? Really? 

Also, WARRANTS. Google kinda has to follow what a warrant says unless they're feeling lucky and feel like challenging the DoJ on a federally issued warrant. 

 

 

Oh piss off. You don't get to pillage secured information and release it and then cry wolf when someone does the same to you. Nope. Not how life works. 

Also, warrants can come with "you don't talk about this" gag orders. Google might not have wanted to talk about it at all. Google might have been told to wait X amount of time before informing other parties. Who knows? 

God, what a bunch of hypocritical goons. 

I don't deny that some data should be secured, however I don't feel that gag orders should be constitutional.

 

Like the gag order on that family who's child was kidnapped by the state, because the doctors claimed her parents were feeding into a psycho-somatic disorder, after a few doctors at other hospitals diagnosed her with an actual disorder and began treating her, and she began getting better. During the whole ordeal, the judge enacted a gag order on the family, making it illegal for them to talk to anyone other than their lawyer about what was going on. The family complied at first and eventually refused to adhere to the gag order.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/06/17/judge-orders-custody-justina-pelletier-returned-parents/mDWtuGURNawSuObO0pDX4J/story.html

 

Also, if the government is gathering data on you for a criminal prosecution case, you have a legal right to know what they have gathered. It's called full disclosure.

[Bensemus]

If Google was served with some warrants I don't see whats wrong here. This is what we want, law agencies going through the courts to get digital data instead of the NSA just taking it.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

There are protections for whistleblowers who don't threaten lives with their actions.

Where's Edward Snowden's protection then? 

After more than a year and a half, the DoD still hasn't been able to show any proof that any lives have been either lost or at risk.  Of course they can't, he has been extremely careful not to pass on such info.

NSA officers have officially been quoted as saying they'd like to make him disappear.  Obama and Kerry publicly challenged him to "face the music", knowing full well that with espionage charges he won't get a public trial or even a chance to defend himself. 

 

 

 

Anyway, on topic :

 

It's an interesting situation to say the least.  Yes, with warrants they have the right to obtain that data.  However if it's for a criminal investigation the defendants HAVE to be notified ... unless you're involved with public whistleblowing, in which case the government will claim you're "aiding the enemy" and hence can call in the espionage act and claim it's a matter of national security, which means your rights are null and void.

[Trik'Stari]

If Google was served with some warrants I don't see whats wrong here. This is what we want, law agencies going through the courts to get digital data instead of the NSA just taking it.

Yes, very true, but the people who's data has been gathered by force, have a right to know that their privacy has been violated. It's called full disclosure. If the government has a warrant to take your things, you have a right to know what things they are taking.

[patrickjp93]

Where's Edward Snowden's protection then?

After more than a year and a half, the DoD still hasn't been able to show any proof that any lives have been either lost or at risk. Of course they can't, he has been extremely careful not to pass on such info.

NSA officers have officially been quoted as saying they'd like to make him disappear. Obama and Kerry publicly challenged him to "face the music", knowing full well that with espionage charges he won't get a public trial or even a chance to defend himself.

Anyway, on topic :

It's an interesting situation to say the least. Yes, with warrants they have the right to obtain that data. However if it's for a criminal investigation the defendants HAVE to be notified ... unless you're involved with public whistleblowing, in which case the government will claim you're "aiding the enemy" and hence can call in the espionage act and claim it's a matter of national security, which means your rights are null and void.

We're not at war with Russia yet. You have no proof. And the very fact DoD information, especially what they know was taken, is now in the hands of hundreds of people, it is a massive security risk. Snowmen deserves the gallows and nothing less.

[Tataffe]

Snowmen deserves the gallows and nothing less.

 

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why the USA are looked down on and made fun of ...

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

We're not at war with Russia yet.

Not talking about Russia.  They're broadening the term "aiding the enemy" a lot lately.  It's not just countries anymore.  If a terrorist takes more precautions due to Snowden's revelations, he was "aiding the enemy". 

[Fetzie]

Not talking about Russia.  They're broadening the term "aiding the enemy" a lot lately.  It's not just countries anymore.  If a terrorist takes more precautions due to Snowden's revelations, he was "aiding the enemy". 

 

You mean like not using skype chat or posting about it on facebook?

 

Pretty sure they weren't doing that to start with. And America deserved to know how entangled with torture their military was, and how ineffective it ultimately was. Same goes for PRISM and their other surveillance programmes that have yet to actually prevent an attack on the USA (as admitted by the CIA and NSA directors).

[JAKEBAB]

-snip-

 

 

This was classified!!! Don't be so god damn ignorant to believe your government is good and is there to help people lmao!!! The whole god damn world knows how sick and messed up your country is!!! Wikileaks has been helping the truth come out!! What the people deserve to know!!! Julian Assange is one of the few thing that make me happy to be born in Australia.

 

For google to do this is like stopping the truth being told imo.

[Victorious Secret]

 

This was classified!!! Don't be so god damn ignorant to believe your government is good and is there to help people lmao!!! The whole god damn world knows how sick and messed up your country is!!! Wikileaks has been helping the truth come out!! What the people deserve to know!!! Julian Assange is one of the few thing that make me happy to be born in Australia.

 

For google to do this is like stopping the truth being told imo.

Nice of you to bring that video up!

Did you know the journalist was embedded with soldiers in an area that was designated as an active area of combat? Did you know that the rules of engagement allowed them to fire on people who they suspected? Did you know that at such ranges, if someone thinks you're carrying a AK-47 or RPG and they are a chopper gunner and their RoE allows them to take action, they will? Since its designated an active combat zone and their own RoE at the moment of flight allows them to engage?

So, the biggest mistake was actually not being honest. they never released the video of them accidentally killing a journalist because they knew it could be used as propaganda. Ironically, it happened anyways. It was a monumental fuckup by everyone involved. 

Also, I'm not even from the United States or even American. But nice try. I'm just not a sheep who blindly follows either side at a whim. I like to use logic, perhaps try it once in a while. And think before you speak next time. 

Also, "You're an actual idiot GTFO". Learn some proper grammar if you're gonna have the gall to call someone else an idiot.

[Razzy_85]

Proud of the Australian ethic of shooting unarmed migrant boats too? Gg Australia gg