A trove of documents released by WikiLeaks publicized private information belonging to gay people, rape victims and sick children.
WikiLeaks has taken to irresponsibly divulging private information in massive data dumps. The Associated Press found that over the past year, the group caused immense collateral damage by exposing information on private individuals while attacking various governments.
The organization put the life of one gay Saudi Arabian man in danger by posting information about his gay sex conviction in a tranche of diplomatic documents known as the Saudi Cables. The Saudi government is notorious for its harsh policies against homosexuality, which can include public flogging and execution. Anti-gay sentiment also permeates Saudi society, with many homosexuals targeted for violence by vigilantes once they are found out.
WikiLeaks denied leaking the information on gays living in Saudi Arabia over Twitter Monday, claiming the data was not leaked by it. The group claimed the story is a year old, and is only now resurfacing due to the upcoming U.S. election.
WikiLeaks is also responsible for naming two teenage rape victims, patients with HIV and releasing children’s medical histories in its massive data dumps. AP found that the Saudi Cables alone contained 124 medical files.
“This has nothing to do with politics or corruption,” Dr. Nayef al-Fayez, a doctor who had one his patient’s records released, told the AP.
“This is illegal what has happened,” said Dr. Adnan Salhab, who also had a patient named in the release. “It is illegal!”
In addition to medical history, it was discovered that WikiLeaks regularly publicized unredacted documents that included personally identifiable information that could lead to identity theft: names, addresses, and social security, passport and phone numbers.
WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 by alleged rapist and pseudo-Kremlin spokesman Julian Assange, an Australian national who has been a fugitive from justice in Sweden since 2012. He has avoided extradition by residing in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy ever since the Swedish government put out a warrant for his arrest.
The group acts as a hosting service for confidential information, mostly from government sources. It rose to notoriety by publishing a series of classified files from U.S. Army Private Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley) in 2010. Most recently, it released several emails belonging to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
WikiLeaks claims to put emphasis on protecting the privacy of individuals.
Assange claimed in 2010 that the organization had a process to prevent bringing any personal harm to individuals involved in its leaks.
“We have a harm minimization policy,” said Assange during a seminar in Oxford, England, in 2010. “There are legitimate secrets, your records with your doctor, that’s a legitimate secret.”
Part of WikiLeaks’ privacy process involved partnering with journalists, but Assange quickly grew tired of the time-intensive process involved with checking each document. He eventually nixed the policy, as well as an automatic redaction process.
The organization defended its decision in 2013, claiming that withholding any data, even personal information, “legitimizes the false propaganda of ‘information is dangerous.'”
Lisa Lynch, a media and communications teacher at Drew University who has followed WikiLeaks for several years, explained Assange’s reckless decision to publicize information that could harm individuals:
“For him the ends justify the means,” she told AP.
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