Ten tips for tives shouldn’t really matter, should Suppose you hear the boss saying they? Actually they do, indeed quite a your team will fiddle the books. 20 spilling the beans lot. others heard the same thing. When a Brian Martin Maybe you hate the boss, so you’ll journalist calls to ask about it, guess get even. Or you hate the company for what? The boss and all 20 deny it You discover some corruption at work treating the workers like shit. You can happened. Or the boss says it was just and want to do something about it. So leak for revenge, but it’s far better to a joke. you report it to your boss. Whoops. leak for a noble cause. Why? Because Your boss was in on it, or tolerated it. other workers and members of the You’ve become a whistleblower, and public will appreciate your efforts. the reprisals start coming: the cold shoulder, rumours that you’re mentally ill, unwelcome assignments, petty harassment. You might even lose your job just because you tried to do the right thing. Whistleblowers are treated like traitors, and suffer. So what about leaking? You just send some documents to the media and no one knows you did it. Think again. It’s not so easy. To expose the corrup- tion while avoiding the dire fate of Go ahead and tie up the boss, most whistleblowers, follow the rules. but not if you’re a leaker

Of course not everyone will #10. Keep your mouth shut! appreciate it—that’s why you need to As a would-be leaker, you might worry leak, to avoid those who want things your boss will discover your identity covered up. And there’s plenty that’s by hacking into your computer or covered up: paedophilia in the tapping your phone. Actually, the churches, police abuse of suspects, biggest risk is your own mouth. It’s financial fraud, special favours for hard to keep a secret, and being a friends, dumping hazardous sub- leaker is a really big secret. stances, cheating people out of their

homes, you name it. Exposing these

crimes and abuses is a public service. Think of famous whistleblowers. Perpetrators will lie, stonewall, and Think of , who leaked provide excuse after excuse. You need the Pentagon papers showing the lots of documents—reports, emails, sordid reality of US policy during the recordings—to show what they are Vietnam war. Think of doing despite their best efforts to avoid (), who revealed the crimes accountability. found out the hard of Richard Nixon. Think of Coleen way. Manning, back when she was Rowley, who spoke out about short- #7. Take your time and choose your Bradley, had pulled off one of the comings in the FBI handling of time. biggest leaks in history, including the information prior to the 9/11 attacks. The corruption is happening now and collateral murder video, Afghan and If your leaks are seen by lots of you want to stop it, so you urgently Iraqi war logs, and US diplomatic people as worthwhile, you can think leak information about it. Big mistake. cables. She might never have been better of yourself and, if you’re ever discovered, but couldn’t resist telling a found out, you’ll have more sup- complete stranger, hacker Adrian porters. Lamo, who told the feds. Manning copped 35 years in prison, all for being #8. Collect plenty of material. a blabbermouth. Many whistleblowers think that when So don’t tell anyone—not on email, they have evidence that’s good not on Facebook, not on the phone, not enough, they can speak out. But on secure chat. And be wary of that enough evidence isn’t good enough— stranger at the bar buying you drinks. you need lots more! Decide how much material you think will provide a #9. Serve the public interest. convincing case, and then multiply by You’re exposing corruption, and that’s 10. Yes, you need more than you can the most important thing. Your mo- imagine.

4 The Whistle, #88, October 2016 The reality is that most corruption, device like a tablet (using cash, not a #4. Choose your recipients carefully. abuses, and dangers to the public are credit card) not connected to the Get the message out, right? Go right to ongoing. Maybe you just found out Internet, and do all your writing on it. the top current affairs program—surely about them, but that doesn’t mean you Then you go to a cybercafé or public they will be interested. must act immediately. library far from your home, sign up Actually, it’s not that easy. You You need to take time to make sure with a new Yahoo account under a might think your issue is breaking about what’s happening and to collect pseudonym, upload the file from your news, but whistleblowers often dis- plenty of material. And you need to device, send it to recipients, close your cover that journalists and editors have wait until it’s the best time to have an new email account, and wipe, destroy, other priorities. impact. and discard your separate device. If Journalists are promising recipients: One of the great advantages of you go to a cybercafé, pay in cash— carefully consider their track record leaking is that you can stay in the job and watch out for those security and impact. There are other possibili- and continue to leak, over a period of cameras. ties too: an action group (an environ- weeks, months, or years. So take your It sounds like a lot of trouble, and it mental group, a consumer group: time. is. But it’s a lot less trouble than whatever’s relevant to your leak), getting caught. WikiLeaks or another online site, or directly to the public through your own website (set up surreptitiously).

Don’t leave traces.

#5. Stick with what you’re good at.

You might imagine that the most #6. Don’t leave traces. sophisticated methods of protection are You’re planning to leak, so you the best. If you’re experienced with prepare carefully, thinking through all Probably the wrong leak recipient encryption and anonymous remailers, the steps you need to take. So far, so then go ahead and use them. Other- good, but it’s not enough. is the world’s most wise, this is not the time for trying What you really need to do is think famous leaker, and for good reason. He something new. It’s better to use like your boss or a PI who’s trying to knew what he was doing, and he did it methods you feel comfortable with. track down the leaker. What will they extremely well. Snowden decided to You can make telephone calls from do? Figure this out and prepare for it. leak to a journalist who would tell his a public phone (do they still exist?). Simple mistakes are the downfall story effectively. He didn’t go to US Remember that investigators might be for leakers, for example leaving pages newspapers like able to obtain the numbers of phones in the photocopier or private emails or because he used to call a journalist. Julian open on your screen. The basic idea is knew they were too timid in challeng- Assange recently advised journalists to to leave no evidence of your activity ing the government. So he chose the consider sending letters through the on any device that your employer or British Guardian, and specifically the post. investigators can easily inspect. How writer Glenn Greenwald, who had a Then there’s the old-fashioned careful you need to be depends on how track record exposing US abuses of method of meeting face-to-face, with seriously they want to find the leaker. power. some noise in the background. It’s still You send a Word document to a Snowden contacted Greenwald one of the best. journalist. Did you check “properties” anonymously. Greenwald was inter- to make sure it doesn’t contain your ested but too busy to make the name or location? connection, even with the private You’re wise enough to avoid using tutorial Snowden designed. So Snow- your office computer, because the IT den approached Laura Poitras, a staff can check through it, and through dissident in her own right and a friend all your messages. But you used your of Greenwald’s. Finally they were home computer. What happens if your connected, and met in Hong Kong. account is hacked or—shock, horror— This whole process took quite a few your computer is stolen? If you really months. Snowden made the right need to be careful, you buy a separate Use a disguise only if necessary.

The Whistle, #88, October 2016 5 choice and was both patient and Politicians and senior bureaucrats Remember also that some co- persistent. leak all the time for political and workers themselves might be afraid. personal gain. Don’t be fooled. They might not be leakers, but they #3. Be prepared for a witch-hunt. Leaking by those at the top is standard might have things to hide. Leak your hot material and wait for it practice and rarely penalised. Different If you are really good, you’ll be to have an impact. It sounds like your rules apply for those lower on the seen as a trusted employee. You might job is over, but actually the toughest totem pole. even be put in charge of finding the part is about to begin. leaker! If your leak generates some atten- tion through the mass or social media, #1. If caught, go public. expect your employers to mount a Horrors—they’re onto you. You made search for the leaker. They’re after a mistake: you told someone, or your you! They might search emails, de- recipient did. Or you realise that vices, people’s backgrounds, trips, and they’re going to find you before long. much else. They will check everyone What to do? Your immediate instinct is with access to documents or to confi- to bunker down, being as private and dential information. They will suspect inconspicuous as possible. anyone with a grudge. Actually, though, if your leak is for a good cause (remember rule #9), your best option is to go public. Yes, it’s counter-intuitive; most whistleblowers are reluctant to go to the media. But you’ll obtain far more support and sympathy from members of the public #2. Behave naturally. than from your employer. Your leak has had an impact. There’s going to be an investigation into the Angry mob looking for a leaker corruption, and your boss is blowing a fuse. Time to celebrate! (Remember, If you’ve been careful until now, keep it private.) you’re pretty safe. Do you know why But with all the excitement, you there are so few famous leakers? It’s now face a peculiar challenge: ap- because most of them are never pearing natural. You’re called in for an caught. By comparison, there are interview about the leak. Or your hundreds of famous whistleblowers. workmates casually bring it up in Think of nuclear industry worker conversation. You need to behave just Karen Silkwood (played by Meryl like you always do. However, being Snowden leaked his material, but knew Streep in, you guessed it, Silkwood) normal (normal for you that is: maybe he would be tracked down. So he and tobacco company executive you crack jokes about everything) is revealed his identity. Actually, Green- Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russell not always easy. You have a big secret, wald had to convince him to hold off Crowe in The Insider). Other whistle- but have to pretend you know nothing for a few days. blowers, not so famous (no Hollywood about it. As soon as your identity is known, movies), have written books about Rest easy. Most people are pretty the focus will be on you, not on what their experiences, for example phar- good at lying, and most people are not you’re speaking out about. That’s one maceutical company executive Peter very good at detecting lies. So lie reason leaking is more effective: the Rost (The Whistleblower: Confessions away, and don’t feel bad. It’s for a focus is on the issue, not the whistle- of a Healthcare Hitman) and FBI good cause. blower. translator (Classified If you really planned ahead, you Woman). already have a new job with a sympa- Yes, whistleblowers are done over thetic employer, and you don’t really time and time again. They foolishly care if you’re identified. But still, it reported their concerns to bosses and might be more fun to remain anony- paid the price. They trusted the system mous. Keep them guessing. You never to provide justice and the system know when you might want to leak crushed them. again. It might even be addictive. Witch-hunts for leakers are de- signed to send a message to workers Brian Martin is editor of The Whistle. not to say anything. By following the Lie with confidence: no one will nose. rules, you can be one of the ones who isn’t caught.

6 The Whistle, #88, October 2016