Ethical Considerations in Whistleblowing

This assignment delves into the complex ethical issues associated with government whistleblowing. It examines the moral arguments for and against whistleblowing, considering its potential benefits for societal transparency and accountability while also acknowledging the risks to individuals involved. The assignment encourages critical analysis of the legal frameworks surrounding whistleblowing and the impact it can have on individuals, organizations, and society at large.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES AND ETHICS
LEAKING OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
Date
Student
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS MADE...................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION USING DOING ETHICS TECHNIQUES........................4
ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ICT
PROFESSIONAL USING THE ACS CODE OF ETHICS.....................................................8
CONCLUSION BRINGING THE YWO ANALYSIS TOGETHER AND OVERALL
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Classified information is information regarded as top secret for security agencies which is not to
be shared with unauthorized person's or foreign countries. This information when leaked can be a
big threat to the American peoples’ security. Despite U.S. government holding their security
secret so seriously and defining huge penalties associated with disclosure of the classified
information, security contractors continue to be reported having exposed these top secrets in
different situations. This paper looks at a case involving leaking of classified information in the
year 2013 by an employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton by the name Edward
Snowden. The report analysis the codes of ethics by applying and comparing ACS code of ethics
and Doing ethics in relation to leaking U.S Government National Security Agency’s classified
security information. It caters for the American populace on how the situation should be handled
for the benefit of all the stakeholders.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS MADE
ICT- Information Communication Technology
IT- Information Technology
NSA- National Security Agency
U.S- United States
ACS CODE OF ETHICs- Australian Computer Society
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INTRODUCTION
Code of ethics plays a significant purpose in a profession. The code provides a practical guide at
individual professional levels to members of a profession when faced with moral and ethical
dilemmas in a particular circumstance concerning their professional conduct. Codes can be
helpful in providing counsel when a professional is faced with a state of moral or ethical tension.
Codes of Ethics in a profession guide individuals on the steps to be taken when in the line of
duty. In instances where there is a need for revising the codes, involvement is considered through
individual members input in the grass-roots at organizational conferences, meetings and
workshops(Perron et al. 2010).If a professional is being charged with malpractices, codes can
help them and perhaps even in lawsuit, even if those practices may have resulted in
harm(Wachs2017). IT security personnel mostly access confidential data and have knowledge
about individuals’ organizations’ networks which gives them big powers in the companies
attached(Reynolds 2011). IT personnel can abuse these powers willingly or unaware. IT people
always have a privilege to work in any organization without a requirement of belonging to those
organizations. In this report I examine an employee ethical issues concerning leaking of
classified information in National Security Agenciesof the U.S. government. It answers the
questions of ethical consideration that benefit American people from a case study of leaking
classified information and whether there are laws that protect the leaking of information.
ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION USING DOING ETHICS TECHNIQUES
a).Happenings
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An employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton by the name Edward Snowden working
withNational Security Agencies admit having leaked classified information documents to
reporters at Guardian and The Washington Post(Oboler, Welsh and Cruz 2012). The documents
contains details of NSA surveillance programsthat collect and perform data mining on hundreds
of millions of U.S. phone and Internet traffic records.This surveillance program aims at
identifying possible links to known terrorists(Toxen2014). Snowden runs out of the country to
avoid federal charges immediately after leaking the information documents. Some people feel he
has done a good job of whistle-blowing to draw attention of NSA programs they feelviolate civil
rights and the Constitutionwhile others see him as a traitor who should be prosecuted.
b).The facts
 In the case study it is true that the information has been leaked since Edward Snowden
admitted to have leaked the documents to reporters at Guardian and The Washington Post
in June 2013. This could be dangerous as media would expose classified information to
terrorist who are being sought after, confidentiality issues would also hurt people whose
information is leaked as well as people result into distrusting NSA for security concerns
anymore. People may also start fearing to use informational technology if the Booz Allen
Hamilton is not held responsible.
 Edward Snowden flees the country with fear of federal charges. The act of disclosing
classified information in the United State is treated very serious crime under the
Espionage Act of 1917. If found guilty of these crimes one Title 18 of the U.S. Code,
Section 798 will be used to pass judgment to the individuals or parties involved. This law
prohibits transmission of classified information willfully and knowingly to an
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unauthorized person and if found guilty of the offence the penalty for this crime attract a
10 years in prison, a large fine, or both.
 The information being leaked in the case is classified information because it is kept for
the National Security Agency. Classified information according to the above law is any
information kept for reasons of national security, kept for the U.S. Government Agency
for limited spreading or sharing.
 Some people feel he should be arrested and charged for the betrayal. There is betrayal of
the Agency in this case and also the people whose privacy has been violated. This may
damage national security operationalization and confidentiality (Nayar2010).
 The information is improperly released because classified information is not to be
released to the public or a member of foreign country without the authorization of the U.S
Government
c).The issues
 There are issues that will negatively affect people who feel their privacy has been
violated
 People may decide to sue the National Security Agency for violating their right to
privacy
 Edward Snowden may be fined largely and get imprisonment of not less than 10 years
 There could develop trust issues amongst employees of National Security Agency
 More people could be held responsible if the information get further exposed either
through publication or being broadcasted
d).The affected
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 There is a threat to national security making Members of public may feel
insecure(Lustgarten2015).
 The employees in the National Security Agency may feel incompetence and under
pressure
 Terrorist may have an advantage over the national security(Lustgarten2015).
 The ministry of defense may lose trust and start being viewed incompetence by
the public
 The government would be the one to blame
 The press may also be held responsible in case of any security issues as a result of
disseminating classified information
 The court may be involved in passing judgments of the case
e). Ethical issues and implications to stakeholders and on the community in general.
 National security concerns
Snowden, exposure to classified information may not have intended to benefit anyone in
particular rather than his own ego. This means in as far as he thought that he will feel superior of
throwing this information to the public anyhow he may have not thought of the implications his
action might result to and the number of people to be affected (Delmas,2015). In as far as it
serves his wants and desire it is ethically right. Media on the other hand may want to feel the
most opportune to have gotten the information of high public interest and rush to satisfy their
audience and feel they did good job of informing. As far as they think they have given the
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information they feel good about themselves and nothing wrong with it. In classical theory when
an action is based on benefiting the actor it is called Egoist.
 Publication or broadcasting classical information
The publication of this information would consider the majority of the people benefiting from the
information. If it is for the public good, the media would consider sponsoring it for the public to
hear. Ethicist argues, as far as it is for “the greatest good for the greatest number”(Hindman and
Thomas 2014). If the information is to rescue violation of the majority right no matter how
classified the information is the media may choose to publish the information and no ethical
problem here(Oboler, Welsh and Cruz 2012). In classical ethical theory this consideration is
referred to as utilitarianism.
 National Security Agency for violating their right to privacy
Snowden may have considered exposingNSA surveillance programs that collect and perform
data mining on hundreds of millions of U.S. phone and Internet traffic records to have peace of
mind since he will not feel responsible for the happenings and avoid blaming himself(Jung
2009). In classical ethical theory this may be referred to as Stoicism/Quietism(Landau 2013).
This means even if he knew his action would result to bigger consequences his peace of mind
becomes the most important.
 Imprisonment of not less than 10 years
Snowden may have felt that exposing the classified information is more ethical if more people
were going to benefit from it even if he might face imprisonment of ten years, a large fine or
both. This led him to take great personal sacrifice to benefit others with their privacy not
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violated(Greenwald and MacAskill2013). When an individual decides not to care about
themselves but ethically think about the good of others, ethicist in classical ethical theory call it
altruism.
f). WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT?
The security agencies should consider going to the court toreassert control either through earlier
restriction on publication by the press or through ensuing punishment to the employee or the
press.
The employee should also run to court to seek court protection including the press involved in
publication in regards with confidentiality interest, if they feel they did what was most
important(Jung, I., 2009).
The employee should be arrested and prosecuted for leaking such classified information that
threatens a country peace.
The security agency must be taken to court by those who feel their rights have been violated in
order to ease tension related to the issueamong the American people (Ventola2014).
The media should do away with the information for the common good of American public
(Hindmanand Thomas 2014).
g).WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?
Court order should ban media publication or broadcast
The media should through the court be restricted from using the information for publication or
broadcasting due to the sensitivity it contains and likely threats to the public due to the tension
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the public may result to. This is because by so doing, terrorist will not likely be able to get the
information and secret of how NSA operates(Delmas2015). This would be achieved by defining
the amount of the offence committed and the fine attracted(Ludlow 2010). This is may not be the
best option because the members of American people have the right to get the information from
the media of the security evils done by the National Security Agencies.
The National security Agency should be taken to court
NSA surveillance programs that collect and perform data mining on hundreds of millions of U.S.
phone and Internet traffic records is against human right for privacy and it means it should be
taken to the court for violating this right(Chadwick and Collister2014). This may not be the best
option as this information is gathered to keep the American people secure from terrorists attack.
Psychiatric therapeutic
The employee should be takenfor therapeutic counseling to determine whether he is on his right
mental state. His admission is dangerous to the people of America and it should be investigated
whether it is a threat or just bare statement(Dearden2012). The security agency may also want
know whether the information has really been exposed and how they can explain to the people of
America to avoid tension likely to come from them.
Employee should be fined and sentenced
The employee should be held responsible of holding top secret information to himself and
exposing it to the members of press willingly despite dangers associated with holding and
exposure of the information meant to protect American people. He should have asked himself
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whether he was justified to take the action or not and what risks or outcome could be(Jung 2009).
This would help in investigation and help the information from spreading further.
h).THE BEST OPTION
US Government should seek court order reasserting control of the information from publication
in order to play its role in protecting peoples’ interest. Before any other action is taken, the
information should be prevented from being published due to the risk it has. The information is
used by the government security agencies to enable them make policies, hence, obtaining court
order would help stop the top secret being known by many people who are not supposed to
know(Harris et al.2011). This would also help the prosecution of the press involved if
information is published and the employee who leaked the information. As an IT professional
you should ask yourself what if your holding or keeping this information was to reveal the top
secret of your employer and what could be the general consequences to your employer, the
government and the public(Chadwick and Collister2014). ICT professionals should ask
themselves whether the information they are perusing would be important for public good or
causing more to the American people or not. They should also be concerned of whether it is
right to have exposed themselves to such sensitive information or not.
ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ICT
PROFESSIONAL USING THE ACS CODE OF ETHICS
ACS code of ethics requires that the ICT professional be loyal to the community in their practice.
This means that as enshrined in the ACS values and ideals, social implications of your work
must put into consideration in enhancing quality of life in those served by ICT personnel. In this
case, the employee may have decided to look at the social implication of their work in the society
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hence the resulting decision(Delmas 2015). Ethical values and ideals of ACS requiring the ICT
professional to prioritize the interest of the community above those of section may have led the
employee taking this measure of their action. He may have seen the dangers associated with the
NSA surveillance programs with likelihood of hurting the majority by misusing their private
information.
Employees are required to strive for their professional development and those of their colleagues
and other employees. His action may have not considered this by involving all the stakeholders
in rectifying a foreseen future damage or he may have decided to expose the ill after a long
ignorance from within(Thompson 2018). The ACS professional 4.6.7 Competence in accordance
with NR4.3.2: state that an ICT professional “go beyond their brief, if necessary, in order to act
professionally” (Burmeister 2013)
ACS standard of conduct also requires that ICT professionals in 4.8.2 social implication “must
consider and respect people's privacy which might be affected by their work.” If the information
termed classified was not in respect to people’s privacy it was better to expose them to the
members of press(Sturges 2009). 4.8.5 SocialImplication states that he/she “must attempt to
increase the feelings of personal satisfaction, competence, and control of those affected by my
work.” If his work did not seem to bring satisfaction to the people affected by his work it would
be a better option exposing the information for people to know there was a concern(Bernoth et
al. 2014).
ACS professional standard of conduct in 4.10.6 Information Technology Profession require that
he or she “take appropriate action if they discover a member, or a person who could potentially
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be a member, of the Society engaging in unethical behaviour.” Although there is no assurance of
the potentiality of surveillance program bringing harm to the public it could be justifiable to
release the information to create alert if the members within were told of the dangers involved in
the practices with regards to obtaining and keeping peoples information secretly.
CONCLUSION BRINGING THE YWO ANALYSIS TOGETHER AND OVERALL
RECOMMENDATIONS
The information in this papers’ discussion has been reviewed in the perspective of a rational
American citizen (people). ACS code of conduct may not be the right to apply in 21st century as
it is limited to allowing making of decision when a dilemma faces professionals in their line of
duty. There have been many suggestions suggesting the amendment of ACS code of conducts in
order for it to be useful in modern changing world. However the ACS marries some good ideas
of the Doing Ethicswhich focuses on doing the right thing. In this case both ethics would be
useful in solving a dilemma in a situation of taking the most appropriate action. ACS state that
there is a need of taking appropriate action toward a misconduct of a colleague in ICT profession
just like doing ethics would consider taking the right action to protect the needs of the majority
in classical ethical theory of utilitarianism.
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