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WikiLeaks May Take Google to Court Over Violation of Staff Members Privacy

© AFP 2023 / THOMAS COEXThe logo of the website specialised in publishing secret documents WikiLeaks
The logo of the website specialised in publishing secret documents WikiLeaks - Sputnik International
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WikiLeaks spokesman told Sputnik Monday that the whistleblower organization was looking into all legal possibilities, including the option of taking Google to court.

Google - Sputnik International
Google Hands Private Data of WikiLeaks Staff to US Government
MOSCOW, January 26 (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova – WikiLeaks is looking into taking legal action, including bringing Google to court, after learning that the Internet giant waited nearly three years to notify them that it had handed over personal data of WikiLeaks staff members to US authorities, a WikiLeaks spokesman told Sputnik news agency Monday.

"We are looking into all legal possibilities and the option of taking them to court is obviously on the table," WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told Sputnik. "It is quite possible that we will but it hasn't been decided yet," he added.

In a letter to Google's executive chairman published Monday, WikiLeaks called on the Internet giant to provide answers a month after learning that Google had been handing over personal data of its staff members to US authorities without notifying the organization nearly three years ago.

"What Google did was illegal," Hrafnsson stressed, adding that it was illegal to share the personal information of WikiLeaks staff members without informing them and giving them an opportunity to contest the move.

According to the letter sent by Center for Constitutional Rights lawyer Michael Ratner, three WikiLeaks journalists and editors – Sarah Harrison, Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell – were targeted by the US government over allegations of conspiracy and espionage, offences that carry nearly 45-year prison terms.

"While it is too late for our clients to have the notice they should have had, they are still entitled to a list of Google's disclosures to the government and an explanation why Google waited more than two and a half years to provide any notice," the letter continues.

According to the organization's website, the Justice Department may have issued search warrants and court orders for the records of the WikiLeaks associates "as early as February 2."

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