A leak in political and news circles is a release to the public of secret or confidential information without official authorisation, and without acknowledgement of the source of the leak. Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... News is new information or current events. ... Secrecy is the condition of hiding information from others. ... Confidentiality has been defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access and is one of the cornerstones of Information security. ...
Reasons for leaks
Politicians and policy-makers may wish to judge the reaction of the public to their plans before committing. Leaked information may be plausibly denied without blame for proposed unpopular measures affecting their perpetrators.
People with access to confidential information may find it to their advantage to make it public, without themselves appearing to be responsible for publishing the information. For example, information which will embarrass political opponents may be leaked.
People privy to secret information about matters which they consider to be morally wrong or against the public interest may leak the information.
A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... A Senate committee, the Church Committee in 1974-1975 conducted an investigation of the intelligence agencies. ... Morality is a complex of principles based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. ... Public interest is a term used to denote political movements and organizations that are in the public interest—supporting general public and civic causes, in opposition of private and corporate ones (particularistic goals). ...
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