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Comment by Me1000 | Hacker News Reader

It's not really an "angle", she worked with a whistleblower protection organization and she specifically gave these documents to the SEC, filing 8 complaints with the regulatory organization. All of that communication is protected.

I don't know what the legal implications for leaking to the press are, but that's where her exposure is.

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Her bigger risk is probably the employment angle. Hard to picture hiring this person except if you're 100% certain your company's behavior aligns with her morals, and you can't find anyone else. Even for people who generally agree with her view on Facebook employing her presents a pretty serious known risk at this point.

Oh, she doesn’t work in tech now. Her work will now involve television interviews and book-signing tours. From that jumping off point, she’ll be able to do what she likes.

I think that underestimates her abilities. I think it is more likely she will found or at least join a policy focused non-profit that will further her social goals while making use of her existing technical and management skills.

Also overestimates her abilities in a different direction. Becoming a media personality is hard, and takes an entirely different skillset. It just seems easy to people who have an axe to grind against the currently successful crop of personalities.

OP asked about the legal ramifications, not the social and professional implications of her whistleblowing.

But that said, I think there are a lot of cynical takes in this comment thread. I don't think Frances will find have a difficult time getting a job. There are plenty of people in tech who think what she did was admirable and are very proud of her, including her alma mater. Sure there will be many people and companies who wouldn't hire her, but there are also many who will.

She has politics written all over - not to worry.

That would be my assumption, or some kind of public policy position. Not to say that her concerns aren't genuine, but she has to be aware that for better or for worse she won't have an easy time finding further work in the industry.

She'll be fine. She is now globally famous for doing something an awful lot of people think is brave and admirable, and she has also shown off on TV how sharp and eloquent she is. There are a huge number of companies who will jump on the chance to bring her onboard.

I'm guessing she would be eligible for an SEC whistleblower award if her complaints result in fines to Facebook.

Has she alleged any illegal behaviors? Nothing I read seemed to be against the law, but I guess the law is a big and complicated beast.

I'm having doubts, seems that most startups and small/medium businesses will not care at all. Have you seen the market? Engineers are ridiculously scarce. Most hiring managers and execs will just say something like "Great, we're too small and don't do anything like Facebook. Just keep her in the code and restrict access to Google Drive"

I can't see her being a coder going forward. She is globally famous for taking a stand (from a very technically informed perspective) on policy issues. A smart company would hire her to be in a very public facing position, that will reflect upon themselves positively.

Obviously, a company that has a huge amount to hide isn't going to want to hire her.

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