Leaking from the Heart

While whistleblowing is almost pure politics, leaking is a divine art.

The Internet itself is pretty deceptive. That is, the same systemic deception you see everywhere else has invaded the Net, in that the coolest and most attractive sites are those that participate in the standard official lies. Some of you are aware that there is an entire range of alternative news sites that serve merely as controlled opposition. There are also a jillion cranks who really don’t get it and never will. The Net is wonderful place, though, because the few who are willing to tell the honest truth about things can find a voice, as well. That’s been quite rare in human history. Still, the Net as a whole is only slightly better than any other form of communication in terms of content.

And all those other forms of communication are fully under control of those who represent the system. Just keeping your private communications private is nearly impossible. Meanwhile, those who represent the system can easily keep vast piles of secret data.

Let’s learn some generalities, starting with Holy Cynicism. All human flesh is fallen. Your own flesh will oppose righteousness to some degree. Since you can’t really trust that person in the mirror completely, you should realize you can’t trust anyone else completely.

Every successful whistleblower was pre-approved before they came out with their story. Otherwise, they never would have gotten the information in the first place. This I know from first-hand experience. Somebody in the system wanted that story told. Learn to doubt that you are getting the whole story. Always keep a measure of suspended judgment on everything.

Assume that every leak was officially approved by somebody with the power to stop it. The purposes for leaks vary widely, but most of it serves the larger purpose of keeping us in the dark. Leaking one fact and fluffing it can pull attention away from something even more important.

Nobody famous got there without someone in power sponsoring them. Be aware that sponsorship can come in the guise of neglecting to stop something. This is not about gossip; we aren’t any kind of Truth Police. Rather, this is more about abuse of power. Moral leaking aims to warn others of a genuine threat. All of this is based on the fundamental characteristic of God and revelation itself, which includes exposing sin. However, let him without sin cast the first stone when it comes to personal stuff. Exposing the sin within systems is another matter.

Let’s pretend you actually do have access to data that your heart tells you must be leaked. First, slaughter without mercy any notion of blowing the whistle. The very concept itself implies a certain desired result from the disclosure. The system will ensure you are crushed if you go that route. If it doesn’t, it’s because you are participating in some worse deception, probably without knowing it. The notion that we could somehow stir up resistance and stop something is for movies and political manipulations. The proper moral consideration is simply making available something kept secret, something that affects people, but they don’t know about it.

Develop the moral orientation of simply letting folks make what they will of the data. Don’t attempt to shape the human response or attempt to put your own spin on it; otherwise you become part of the systemic abuse. Don’t even trust the data, regardless whether you participated in gathering it. The system tends to lie reflexively, and the best stuff will be compartmentalized, so that no one can get the whole story who isn’t under the system’s control. No, just put it out there and let God worry about what happens. Follow your heart.

Never trust an outlet that doesn’t share this brand of cynicism.

For nerdy computer related stuff, try Pastebin. The fundamental purpose of that site is to temporarily store code snippets and related material, so this is the place to leak source code. You’d be amazed at how many folks have nothing better to do than look for stuff like that. You can also do similar things on Github Gist.

More typical government and large corporate leaks might pass better through Cryptome. Cryptocomb is a little more narrowly focused, but similar in nature. Cryptocomb does a good job of outing CIA agents. However, just plain documentation leaks can be easily handled at Public Intelligence. You should visit the sites and read up on the preferred means of transmission.

Religious scandals are easy: Just pass the information to anyone who has attacked the involved religious institution, or someone who attacks religion in general. If nothing else, try What Really Happened on such things; it gets a lot of eyes. However, they prefer links to posted material, so if you want to insulate yourself for any good reason, you need to find someone willing to post it somewhere.

There is no cowardice or dishonesty in avoiding attention. If you know someone who is able to handle this stuff with a reasonable degree of fairness, pass it on. However, it then becomes their story and you can’t hope to control what happens. A critical element in all of this is verifying the source of information. The more emotionally involved you are, the more likely you’ll betray yourself in every sense of the term. Stop and think what it might take to show that this isn’t some wild nonsense in your own head.

And don’t take my word for it; do your own research. If you even suspect you’ll be exposed to threatening secret data, now is a good time to bone up on methods of leaking, and deciding how much risk you’ll accept to obey your heart on this matter.