The actual operational practices to defend information can take multiple years to implement, but this can come after information is already marked classified in terms of legality.
Well, yeah, but normally if you declare something classified, you’re supposed to shut it all down until those practices are in place. That’s a huge cost in this context, one that the people making the decisions may not be willing to accept.
… and if you do declare it classified but don’t actually protect it, that means that the whistleblower is dealing with a different landscape. If you’re planning to disclose anonymously, the actual protections, not the legal status, are what matter. Of course, if you’re not anonymous, the converse applies.
US govt can retroactively classify information after it has already been leaked.
… and it’s getting nothing but more lawless in doing that.
If you’re dealing with a lawless enough government, it doesn’t even matter if what you did is actually illegal. Your life can be totally destroyed even if you win some kind of court victory 30 years later.
Well, yeah, but normally if you declare something classified, you’re supposed to shut it all down until those practices are in place. That’s a huge cost in this context, one that the people making the decisions may not be willing to accept.
… and if you do declare it classified but don’t actually protect it, that means that the whistleblower is dealing with a different landscape. If you’re planning to disclose anonymously, the actual protections, not the legal status, are what matter. Of course, if you’re not anonymous, the converse applies.
… and it’s getting nothing but more lawless in doing that.
If you’re dealing with a lawless enough government, it doesn’t even matter if what you did is actually illegal. Your life can be totally destroyed even if you win some kind of court victory 30 years later.
I’m saying this has happened multiple times in the past already, and has high probability of happening again
We seem to be mostly on the same page here honestly.