John Tye: the kinder, gentler, and by-the-book whistleblower | Hacker News Reader

John Tye: the kinder, gentler, and by-the-book whistleblower

arstechnica.com

39 pointsgrej6 comments

Posing him as an opposition to Snowden is not right, because Tye was only able to blow the whistle himself because of Snowden's leaks. "Tye said he never would have even learned about 12333 and NSA capabilities short of Snowden’s own actions." He's a part of a new generation of whistleblowers and leakers, none of which could have done what they do without Snowden. Not to overly lionize Snowden, but it just goes to show that once the dam develops a crack, it's not long before it's gushing.

Without documentation the government can just deny everything the whistleblower says and spend their time discrediting them. The only reason anyone is taking Tye's disclosure seriously is because of the documents Snowden provided.

> People can disagree with [Tye’s] views, but [the government] should be holding him out as the ultimate national security whistleblower, because he’s doing it the right way.”

In my opinion Russ Tice deserves that title. Like Tye, he lacks document evidence. However, Tice's claims have been by far the most damning thus far, even more so than Snowden's (in my opinion). Tice was not merely briefed by the NSA, but held a senior position there.

Tye however does an admirable job of hammering home the point that minimization procedures come into play after collection [on US persons] has taken place, during the accessing of the collected data. This is a hugely important detail that most of the reporting on Snowden material has either overlooked or bungled.

Unfortunately, those calling for a "more legal" Snowden don't hear much about this guy because he isn't sensational enough to be mobbed by the media.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

> Slow and steady wins the race

I feel Snowden's approach may get of shock and awe from the media, but in the end, it will result in witch-hunts rather than real change.

It's a bit more complex than that. Tye, the whistleblower would still be Tye, the non-notable government employee had Snowden not down what he did. Just as Snowden was influenced by Assange, Tye was influenced by Snowden. Whistleblowers of all stripes are desperately needed to bring the government to heel.

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