Wikileaks and The Rising Ethical Issues Surrounding Privacy of Information

The question one ethics on the activities of WikiLeaks is based on whether the individuals involved understand the difference between what they have a right to do and what is right to do. It goes beyond the right of imparting or receiving information and involves the issue of what a person ought to do and how far he is right in doing so. Therefore, when it comes to discussing the ethical dilemma with WikiLeaks, one must weigh the consequences of the actions based on the degree of rightness in them. This calls for enough knowledge on whether what is being done is the right thing to do.

WikiLeaks has helped the public to gain information on different issues affecting the government and large corporations. It has enhanced accountability and transparency of governments. However, the question still remains whether, the company is infringing on governments and citizens’ rights. It is very clear that releasing of government information to the public affects a lot of things. For instance, the release of “Erdogan emails” was one of the many WikiLeaks releases that can be said to cause ethical dilemmas. The company indicated that such exposing was one form of government corruption that it was eradicating. However, it is noted that such leaks are irresponsible and unethical as they affect matters on privacy. The link of emails led to exposure of “massive databases of ordinary people, including a special database of almost all adult women in Turkey,” in accordance to statements made by Zeynep Tufekci. Approximately 79 out of 81 provinces in Turkey female voters’ information were exposed. Such incident infringed on the rights on privacy of these individuals. For instance, information on home addresses, cellphone numbers and other data were exposed endangering the privacy and security of the people affected. Furthermore, the “Erdogan emails” had sensitive information on AKP members that include personal data and such data would put the lives of the individuals in danger.

Therefore, WikiLeaks function of exposing government data is not ethical. It leads to release of sensitive information to the public which may also raise other problems such as security. For example, if terrorists get specific data on the government, the government system might become vulnerable and lead to terrorism attacks. Therefore, there is need of regulation of the organization and limitation to prevent infringement of privacy of citizens and also protect the government from malicious attacks.