In the past several years and months, we have had several instances in which hackers and programmers exploit the government and various agencies for the corrupt individuals they really are. You may be thinking of people such as Edward Snowden, the man responsible for the leaking of National Security Agency secrets. While he is one of the most influential people in our technological society that we have today, he’s not who I want to focus on. The man I want to talk about is Julian Assange. He is a perfect example of betrayal and deception because of the countless number of governments he has exposed. You may have heard of the website Wikileaks. Wikileaks is/was an online organization, dedicated to exposing corrupt governments and large corporations. Since its upbringing in October of 2006 by Julian Assange, it has published over one million articles and is credited as one of the largest ‘leak’ sources in modern society. These articles, mainly published by anonymous civilians, vary in degree from patent battles to millions of confidential government documents (Wikileaks & Wikileaks Wikipedia). Wikileaks was in the news recently because of various leaked documents released throughout 2010 and 2011. Among these leaked documents were over 250,000 government diplomatic cables (‘encrypted’ messages usually sent between diplomats). These cables date back as far as 1966 and contain classified information regarding Afghanistan and Iraq war efforts (Wikileaks, Chelsea Manning). When we think of whether or not the end justifies the means, we usually think of how the person may or may not have good intentions. With the founding of Wikileaks, Assange only wanted to help the people by exposing their governments. Assange thought that the peopl... ... middle of paper ... ...Assange>. "July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 May 2014. Web. 13 May 2014. . "Kenyan presidential election, 2007." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 May 2014. . TED Talks. "Why the world needs WikiLeaks." Julian Assange:. TED Talks, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . "WikiLeaks." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 May 2014. . "Wikileaks." - WikiLeaks. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. . Wikimedia. "2007-08 Kenyan Crisis." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .
Davis, Jayna. The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Nashville: WND, 2004. Print.
McCraw, David, and Stephen Gikow. “The End to a Unspoken Bargain? National Security and Leaks in a Post-Pentagon Papers World.” Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 48.2 (2013): 473-509. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Kevin M. Gallagher. 2013. Freedom of the Press Foundation. Glenn Greenwald, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'. Video file posted on YouTube on June 9, 2013.
TEDSalon. (2014, June). Hubertus Knabe: The dark secrets of a surveillance state. TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/hubertus_knabe_the_dark_secrets_of_a_surveillance_state? on 11/17/2014.
In an editorial on Wikileaks it is claimed that, “At stake over 1.5 billion dollars worth of...
With the introduction of the internet being a relatively new phenomenon, the act of cyber espionage is not something that has been properly acknowledged by society. The American Government has done a stand up job of keeping its methods in the shadows and away from the eyes of its people since its documented domestic surveillance began on October 4th, 2001; Twenty three days after the Twin Towers fell President George Bush signed an order to begin a secret domestic eavesdropping operation, an operation which was so sensitive that even many of the country's senior national security officials with the...
The biggest manhunt against a criminal in U.S. history has been to catch serial killer Theodore John Kaczynski. Ted Kaczynski, sowed terror throughout the country for almost two decades. From 1978 to 1996, Kaczynski sent homemade explosive devices to various Universities, airlines facilities, and people related to those, as part of his anti-technological campaign. That's where he gets the nickname of "The Unabomber"; “un”-derivative from universities, and letter “a”- from airlines. The "Unabomber" killed three people and seriously injured other twenty-three victims, (Esoteric Nation, 2013; Winton & Scott, 2007). Something that had always been a mystery is why Kaczynski chose those particular places and people. Psychological analyzes suggest that the reasons for such actions can be traced to early life events, (Cooijmans, 2013; Winton & Scott, 2007).
Edward Snowden, the famous “whistleblower”, shocked the world with his revelations about the NSA’s database and the programs which allow the organization to access personal information not only of citizens of other nations, but also of citizens of the U.S. The most shocking revelation of all was not the existence of these programs, but the fact that the Obama administration allowed those programs to exist in direct violation of every U.S. citizen’s right to privacy.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
Julian Assange an Australian editor, activist, journalist and publisher launched the WikiLeaks website in the year 2006. From that moment, the site spiraled rapidly into the limelight all over the world. It then came to be known as the most powerful whistle-blowing and also the most scandalous “media” in the online world. WikiLeaks profanes and violates the right of privacy, right of accountability and confidentiality among Information and data sharing also it has a negative impact on governments, private sectors or businesses and also individuals, there is also a big question of accountability.
The Telegraph. (2005). July 7 inquiry: timeline of the 7/7 terror attacks - Telegraph. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8055112/July-7-inquiry-timeline-of-the-77-terror-attacks.html. [Accessed 01 March 2014].
The Web. The Web. 22 Jan. 2014. • "Profile: Edward Snowden. "
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.
On the eastern coast of Africa lies a land full of sunny blue skies and large plains in which zebras and elephants roam. This land is the country of Kenya. Outside of Kenya’s cities and towns lies many samples of natures beauty. Unfortunately, the people living in this land are troubled by their struggle with the government and trying to form a democracy. Matthew Carotenuto stated, “Much of the world had historically viewed Kenya as an island of peace and economic potential in a roiling sea of stateless chaos.” What he means is that people have long seen Kenya as a peaceful place that is surrounded by countries suffering from all sorts of violence and unfortunate circumstances. What many people do not know is that Kenya has a long history for political violence going way back to when the country was colonized. Understanding that Kenya’s past violence was due to their struggle for social and political authority helps us understand some of their violence issues today. According to Maina Kiai, violence broke out after Kenya’s 2007 election. Many people had thought that Kenya was a more peaceful country compared to others in Africa because they were working towards a democracy. Currently Kenya is a republic (“Kenya” The World...). Another thing Kiai mentioned is that one of Kenya’s major political problems is that Kenya's constitution gives the president full power to elect anyone he wants into a political position for any salary he chooses. Scott Baldauf and Robert Crilly also explain how Kenya is trying to become a democracy but its political system is weak and allows the president too much power, making the nation a dictatorship in disguise. This leads to many ethical issues within the governments systems. We should care about Ken...
The Web. The Web. 28 Oct. 2015. The "Edward Snowden Biography." Bio.com.