The Ethics of State Secrets: Snowden, Wikileaks, and the
Need for Secrets?
Intelligence is an inherently secretive
affair. The intelligence community often argues that in order to successfully
maintain security they need their tactics, targets and personnel to be kept out
of the public eye. However, the WikiLeaks affair in 2010 and then the NSA leaks by Edward
Snowden in 2013 revealed surveillance programs of such unprecedented
size and scope that they raised important questions regarding the type of
activities people are happy to have carried out in their name. Importantly,
however, they also highlight the tension
that has developed between democratic principles such as transparency and
accountability and the need to keep secrets in order to maintain security. It
is unclear is how secretive the intelligence community should be and what
ethical position whistle-blowers should hold in society. I argue that first we
must understand the affect keeping secrets can have on society with the
potential for eroding social cohesion and the fear of secret human rights
violations. This can then be set against the good that the intelligence community
can bring in terms of detecting, preventing and even predicting threats against
the political community. By balancing these two concerns this paper will
develop an ethical framework designed to guide if, when and by what means
states can keep secrets.
No comments:
Post a Comment