The value of leaks of “secret” information cannot be over estimated.
The leaks by Edward Snowden haven’t changed the current practices of the U.S. government but they have sparked a lively debate over issues only a few suspected existed.
One specific advantage to the Snowden leaks is hopefully IT companies now realize that the government will betray them at a moment’s notice, such it be advantageous to do so. IT companies are far better off being loyal to their customer bases, as are their customers.
Another advantage to the Snowden leaks is an increased impetus for open source software. Not necessarily free software but open source so that a buyer can inspect the software for backdoors and other malware.
The most recent batch of leaks, the “Spy Cables,” appear to be of similar importance. Consider this current headline:
Mossad contradicted Netanyahu on Iran nuclear programme by Will Jordan, Rahul Radhakrishnan.
From the report:
Less than a month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2012 warning to the UN General Assembly that Iran was 70 per cent of the way to completing its “plans to build a nuclear weapon”, Israel’s intelligence service believed that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons”.
A secret cable obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit reveals that Mossad sent a top-secret cable to South Africa on October 22, 2012 that laid out a “bottom line” assessment of Iran’s nuclear work.
It appears to contradict the picture painted by Netanyahu of Tehran racing towards acquisition of a nuclear bomb.
Writing that Iran had not begun the work needed to build any kind of nuclear weapon, the Mossad cable said the Islamic Republic’s scientists are “working to close gaps in areas that appear legitimate such as enrichment reactors”.
Such activities, however, “will reduce the time required to produce weapons from the time the instruction is actually given”.
The leaked information should (no guarantees) make it harder for Netanyahu to sell the U.S. Congress on something very foolish with regard to Iran and its nuclear energy program.
Just imagine how all the “scary” news would read if the public had full and free access to all the secret information circulated by governments and distorted for public consumption.
If you want a saner, better informed and safer world, leaking secret corporate and/or government documents is a step in that direction.
PS: Have you seen Snowden’s A Manifesto for the Truth?