Wikileaks announced today that it would be posting data obtained from a disgruntled former banker. Julian Assange, founder of the so-called whistleblower website, made it known late last year that he would be posting damning information from US banks on his website. The renowned impresario, note the conspicuous absence of the word "journalist" here, announced today he would, instead, soon be posting information about those holding accounts in Swiss banks thanks to data passed to him by Rudolf Elmer. Apparently, Mr. Elmer (sounds like the host of a television cartoon show) is unhappy over being dismissed in 2002 from Julius Baer. According to a statement issued by the bank, Mr. Elmer has "embarked upon a personal intimidation campaign and vendetta against Baer. The aim of his activities was and is to discredit Julius Baer as well as clients in the eyes of the public.”
It seems that, like Assange’s charges in Sweden, Elmer is also currently facing some charges. Swiss courts are interested in an unrelated charge of stealing bank information back in 2005. Elmer has been accused of falsifying documents and threatening people at the bank.
The troubling thing is that this is not an apparent situation where someone who, while working at the bank one day, came across something that troubled his conscience and decided to risk all by going public. No, we have a man who apparently was content with bank policies and practice until he was shown the door. Only then did we hear from him. His actions make him sound less like a hero and more like a vengeful ex-employee. After his sacking, the moment he left the premises with bank data makes his actions suspect: or somewhat calculated.
Most troubling of all is the seizure of those private records. Any government investigation into tax evading account holders should normally require some form of writ or warrant to obtain private banking records. Why should a private citizen be able to publicly allege corruption with documents of dubious acquisition?
If any tax evasion has occurred, isn't it the job of governments and not private citizens to pursue the case? By providing a forum for anyone to post anything he thinks is damaging, Mr. Assange has pointed us toward a slippery slope. At what point will anyone who feels wronged, by a former employee, ex-lover, business partner, or any other scenario you can imagine be guaranteed a place to post damaging material on the web and seemingly face no reprisal? How long before reputations are destroyed and people start killing themselves or others over something of unproven credibility posted on Wikitrash? With all of these bits of data at his fingertips, can we be sure someone in Assange’s position isn’t capable of extortion and will he someday fancy himself a modern J. Edgar Hoover, hoarding dirty little secrets to gain power over those in government, the media, or the corporate world? It might be smart to get in his good graces now, before he decides that your secrets are worth sharing.
No one can be certain what Assanges’ motives are in publishing the data of private businesses and citizens, but the capacity for something sinister is astounding. Perhaps in his concern of a totalitarian, all seeing government, Orwell should have also warned us about the possibility of Big Brother.com.
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