WHISTLE BLOWERS: A REVOLUTIONARY ACTBy Dylan Robinson

SOCIETY IS GETTING MORE COMPLEX, DATA IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY

• 40,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Bytes by 2020

• Estimated 9 billion people by 2020

• More data, more people, more laws, and larger government

• There will be more opportunity for people with access to data to exploit their power

• US government spy agency logo:

WHAT IS A WHISTLE BLOWER?

A whistle blower is kind of like this guy:

He’s trying to do the right thing, but to some he is a vigilante

THE LIFE OF A WHISTLE BLOWER

• While it may seem like a really prestigious life, filled with fame and fortune, this is often where you end up

WIKILEAKS

• One of the largest and most well known organizations that leaks information to the public, WikiLeaks, has been responsible for profound revelations by sharing information given to them by anonymous sources

BRADLEY MANNING

• Manning released videos, cables, and thousands of war logs to WikiLeaks

• WikiLeaks published these leaks in one of the largest leaks in history which revealed the true nature of the US led war in Iraq

COLLATERAL MURDER

• One of these videos, captioned “Collateral Murder” went viral

• The video depicts US soldiers firing on unarmed Iraqi’s, including journalists. There were also children present in the vehicle that was fired on

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0

WHISTLE BLOWER MANNING SENTENCED TO 35 YEARS

• Manning was tried for many crimes related to leaking classified information

• One crime, which he was acquitted of, aiding the enemy, could have carried the death penalty

EDWARD SNOWDEN

• Snowden initially released information about NSA surveillance programs

• One of these programs, PRISM, showed that the NSA gathers nearly all of the personal data of US citizens

SNOWDEN FLEES TO RUSSIA

• Edward Snowden fled to Russia and was granted Asylum

• Snowden has since leaked more information about NSA programs, including PRISM, Xkeyscore, and Tempora

• Snowden has only leaked 1% of the information he has

• These programs all seem related to gathering and analyzing data about private citizen’s and spying on ally countries

• The NSA claims they are in place to help fight terrorism, but it’s like grabbing a haystack in an attempt o find a needle, at the expense of our freedoms and liberties

MANNING AND SNOWDEN LOSE EVERYTHING

• There are two sides to the story

• Some consider Manning and Snowden hero’s, while others see them as traitors

• Manning is in prison, while Snowden fled the country because he was threatened with prison.

• Snowden had a high paying job (200k) a year, lived in a nice house with his girlfriend in Hawaii, and had a close friendship with his family

• Do you think these two had an ulterior motive or gained anything?

MORE WHISTLE BLOWERS FOLLOWING SNOWDEN’S LEAD

• Snowden’s lawyer claims more are following suit

• Members of the NSA, former and current are coming forward to reveal secrets

“IN A TIME OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT, TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY

ACT.”

-GEORGE ORWELL