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A whistleblower (whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The information of alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption. Those who become whistleblowers can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally. Internally, a whistleblower can bring his/her accusations to the attention of other people within the accused organization. Externally, a whistleblower can bring allegations to light by contacting a third party outside of an accused organization. Whistleblowers can reach out to the media, government, law enforcement, or those who are concerned but also face stiff reprisal and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing.
Above taken from Wikipedia on May 8, 2016.
Whistleblowers
- Neil J. Aiken, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) whistleblower
- Gen. Smedley Butler
- Bartolome de las Casas, 16th C. Dominican friar who revealed Spanish atrocities in the Americas to the Church
- Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers
- Mark Felt, FBI associate director best known as "Deep Throat" in the Watergate scandal
- Jan Karski
- Chelsea Manning, U.S. Army soldier who provided documents to WikiLeaks
- Rick S. Plitz, revealed politicization of science within the U.S. Climate Change Science Program
- Coleen Rowley, FBI special agent who revealed failure to track a 9/11 hijacker
- Tyler Schultz, Theranos employee who reported the now-shuttered company to U.S. authorities
- Frank Serpico
- Karen Silkwood, chemical technician and labor activist who died under mysterious circumstances
- Edward Snowden, U.S. National Security Agency contractor who exposed domestic and international surveillance programs
- Yulia Stepanova, Russian track and field athlete who exposed the country's widespread doping scandal ahead of the Rio Olympics
- Miguel Del Toral, Flint water crisis whistleblower
- Linda Tripp
- Sherron Watkins, Enron vice president for corporate development who helped reveal extent of corruption
- Mark Whitacre
- Jeffrey Wigand, revealed tobacco industry secrets confirming awareness of carcinogens
- Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist who made public the Black Chamber methods
Notable allies
- Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks
- Erin Brockovich -- private profile
- Glenn Greenwald, journalist for The Guardian and The Intercept
- Laura Poitras, documentarian and co-founder of The Intercept