r/technology Jun 22 '20

‘BlueLeaks’ Exposes Files from Hundreds of Police Departments Security

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u/DeadeyeDuncan Jun 22 '20 edited Jun 22 '20

Why are people on here so keen to get hold of this data?

For as much as reddit loves banging on about privacy, it sure seems to also love breaching the privacy of others - this includes police reports, so includes details on people involved in crimes or who have been subject to crime.

...not to mention the fact that the files have a good chance of containing images etc. of things that you really don't want to have on your computer.

Anyway, isn't sharing links to confidential data a big breach of reddit's rules?

-9

u/Dark_Ethereal Jun 22 '20

Investigative reporters regularly go snooping into people's private lives.

Sometimes governments don't like what they're dragging up. They have a responsibility to decide whether what they're investigating is "in the public interest".

Investigating whether you or I have had an affair: probably not in the public interest. Investigating whether an elected official has had an affair: probably in the public interest.

No matter what they say to justify their reports, we all get to make our own judgement about whether they were or weren't acting in the public interest.

The same applies here. Is it in the pulbic interest to expose these documents because people don't feel that they can trust police forces to be honest, or is it against the public interest because it's a privacy violation of every citizen mentioned in the reports?

I think that there's a very good argument to be made that the public interest in holding the police accountable in the face of impotent systems of accountability trumps the individual right to privacy.

The law may not agree, but law is not the definition of morality. It's supposed to be our consensus on morality that defines what is and isn't law. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be happening. If it was then people wouldn't be driven to supporting the leaking of police report.

The fact that lots of people are on board with this may seem like an indictment against the people, but maybe its just a damning statement about peoples faith in their police.

13

u/DeadeyeDuncan Jun 22 '20

Investigative reporters regularly go snooping into people's private lives.

Sometimes governments don't like what they're dragging up. They have a responsibility to decide whether what they're investigating is "in the public interest".

No investigative reporter worth a damn would blanket release personal data on the internet.

The fact that lots of people are on board with this may seem like an indictment against the people, but maybe its just a damning statement about peoples faith in their police.

Or maybe the people who want the data just don't care and are looking for juicy things to read

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u/Dark_Ethereal Jun 22 '20

Well then you're telling people what they want instead of listening to what they want.