New 'witness protection scheme' for whistle-blowers exposing technology industry 'wrongdoing'
New 'witness protection scheme' for whistle-blowers
exposing technology industry 'wrongdoing'
By Luke Heighton & Callum Adams,21 JUNE 2018 • 8:00AM
Whistleblowers are being offered a “witness protection
scheme” to expose “wrongdoing” in the
technology industry. An American non-for-profit organisation founded by a
French entrepreneur and philanthropist has said it will provide individuals
working within “big data” financial and legal support if they are able provide
information that shows how the public is
being “harm[ed], exploited or misled”.
The Signals Network, which was set up last year, is
working with a consortium of journalists around the world and aims to provide
assistance to potential whistle-blowers to ensure that powerful corporations
can be investigated.
Newspapers and websites in America and Europe, including
The Telegraph, have issued a “call for information” to people working in “big
data” who are able to show how the public are being misled or that the
information they have provided is being misused.
Other organisations involved in the project include
Mediapart, which was set up by the former editor of Le Monde, Die Viet in
Germany, the Intercept and WikiTribune.
The reporters will work together to examine information
that is provided and a committee will decide whether potential sources have
provided sufficiently strong information to warrant support from the
organisation.
In recent years, concerns have arisen about the role of
technology companies and how “big data” may be being misused by firms.
Earlier this year, it emerged that a Cambridge professor
used a personality quiz on Facebook to obtain data from 50 million users
without their knowledge.
The academic then allegedly passed the data to a company
called Cambridge Analytica, in violation of Facebook’s rules and without the
company knowing.
It also emerged that Cambridge Analytica harvested data
on 50 million Americans without their permission and failed to ensure the data
was deleted – it was allegedly used to develop an algorithm used in the US
presidential election to target voters for the Trump campaign.
The controversy led to more than $36 billion (£26
billion) being wiped off the value of Facebook, as investors reacted to the
revelations. The firm have denied that
the data available to Cambridge Analytica constituted a data breach and any
wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, experts said that social media and
online gaming firms should have a “duty of care” to protect children from
mental ill health, abuse and addictive behaviour, amid concerns that social
media firms are cynically targeting children using addictive “hooks”.
The Signals was set up by French businessman Giles
Raymond and has an operating budget of several hundred of thousands of dollars
to provide financial, legal, psychological and public relations assistance to
individuals who are able to provide information that exposes wrongdoing.
Mr Raymond found a company News Republic that was bought
by Cheetah Mobile in 2016 for $57 million.
In 2017, he founded the Signals Network.
The Signals Network aims to provide the equivalent of a
witness protection program for whistle-blowers.
Today’s “Call for Information”, which was made by the
newspapers and websites, asked for whistle-blowers to provide information that
exposed wrongdoing, but also that could “shed light on commonly misunderstood
or questioned practices, for example, why companies have chosen specific
product updates and their effect on consumers”.
Once the information has been provided to the reporters,
each case will be “vetted” by a committee, and, based on the public interest
and risk exposure, the Signals Network will decide on the level of protection
to be offered.
Mr Raymond said: "Talking to whistle-blowers we
identified key needs and expectations". To help support them the
organisation "will set up its own equivalent of the witness protection
program for qualifying whistleblowers", he said.
Comments
Post a Comment