Britians "Intelligence" agencies. WTF?
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A reasonable guess about what got mangled in the press would be "You cannot discuss the contents of the classified documents with anyone ever." I can't speak to UK procedures directly, but NATO rules for data sharing mean that all our policies are broadly speaking functionally equivalent. AFAIK in the US the procedure for handling accidental exposure is to get the signatures/oath of silence as soon as sanely possible (eg with EMS types not until the sick/injured person is safely in the hospital). That would make me think it was handled at the same time they confiscated the camera.
dan neely wrote:
to get the signatures/oath of silence as soon as sanely possible
What happens if the guy refuses to sign - you know, in a sort of old-fashioned individualistic way? Will the U.S. put you in jail for refusing to promise not to talk about something you learned accidently?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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A reasonable guess about what got mangled in the press would be "You cannot discuss the contents of the classified documents with anyone ever." I can't speak to UK procedures directly, but NATO rules for data sharing mean that all our policies are broadly speaking functionally equivalent. AFAIK in the US the procedure for handling accidental exposure is to get the signatures/oath of silence as soon as sanely possible (eg with EMS types not until the sick/injured person is safely in the hospital). That would make me think it was handled at the same time they confiscated the camera.
The official secrets act covers all UK subjects whether they signed the act or not. The relevant section basically says that if anyone comes into possession of information that could be covered by the act (and it's a safe bet that the stuff on this camera did) then they commit an offence if they disclose it to anyone. I guess the police didn't actually 'ban' the guy from doing anything, they would have just told him in no uncertain terms what the consequences would be if he did talk about it. If they make losing critical secret data an Olympic sport, the UK's guaranteed gold silver & bronze at the next games....
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I remember the good old days when the bad guys had to go out and steal secrets from the intelligence agencies.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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Ahhhh but don't you see? This is pure genius! They can't steal it if it's already been sold to some unknown ... oh wait a sec ...
It's even cleverer than that. If it leaks accidentally everyone screams and shouts about the leak, how terrible it is and how everyone shouldn't have found out that x is y and z. No one questions for a moment whether the leaked information is actually true, after all it leaked accidentally didn't it? Even if it's found to be complete hogwash the intelligence agencies can simply say 'it was a draft' or deny it was a real leak altogether, perfectly plausible deniability.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage." Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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It's even cleverer than that. If it leaks accidentally everyone screams and shouts about the leak, how terrible it is and how everyone shouldn't have found out that x is y and z. No one questions for a moment whether the leaked information is actually true, after all it leaked accidentally didn't it? Even if it's found to be complete hogwash the intelligence agencies can simply say 'it was a draft' or deny it was a real leak altogether, perfectly plausible deniability.
"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage." Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)
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dan neely wrote:
to get the signatures/oath of silence as soon as sanely possible
What happens if the guy refuses to sign - you know, in a sort of old-fashioned individualistic way? Will the U.S. put you in jail for refusing to promise not to talk about something you learned accidently?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
I believe the National Security Act works the same as the UKs official Secrets Act was described as working. If you willfully or (sufficiently) negligently disclose something you know to be classified you'll be going to jail. I don't think they can actually punish you for refusing to cooperate (unless it's something like contempt of Court/Congress/etc) if you still do shutup. It probably is kept in records somewhere and would be brought up as a reason to deny a hypothetical clearance request in the future. If you're really interested in a 2nd opinion you could ping El Corazon on the lounge. He's the other CPian I know who could provide input on the subject.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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Your world is very scarey, Matthew. I am glad I don't live in it.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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The War Nerd wrote:
Well, that’s what military intelligence does: fail. They should just drop the facade and call MI the "Department of ‘Whoops!’"
If you kill a whale, you get Greenpeace and Jacques Cousteau on your back, but wipe out sardines and you get a canning subsidy! Fold with us! ¤ flickr
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I remember the good old days when the bad guys had to go out and steal secrets from the intelligence agencies.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
Ah, but that's too difficult. Nowadays in the UK they simply have to pose as an illegal immigrant (after which they will immediately get a job) and pick up a laptop, CD or flash drive from the MoD. After which Adnan searches it for conspiracy theories which show that America is pure *eeviil* and claims his freedom of speech