Duty of Care is fundamental. If you touch a person’s life, then you are in part responsible for what happens afterwards.
That applies to the “users” of intelligence product, as well as the practitioners.
Intelligence-gathering can hurt the innocent, especially when clandestine. People can be indirectly effected when it’s collected, the recommendations from analysts can have human side effects they did not warn about, the communications to customers may be open to misinterpretation, and the decisions that follow may be seriously flawed. The use of extreme levels of secrecy can also hurt people.
Laws give some protection but it’s insufficient. Intelligence workers need to practice a Duty of Care. This goes beyond protecting witnesses and respecting the public’s “right to privacy”.
Duty of Care applies to public and private sector. It’s for intelligence workers in the state, police, media and industry. And it’s for everyone from collection through to assessment and decision making.
Stories and commentary on Duty of Care
Includes subject categories: Duty of Care, and Secrecy First.
- “The 4 Seasons” story – elevator pitch exampleRadha reread her resignation letter. It was a huge step. The Agency had been her home, and her dream.
- A delicate liaison – a 2-page story of fear and bullying“Francesca will be in danger,” Graziano warned. It wasn’t the role of an intelligence liaison operative to state the obvious but he feared for her.
- An agency man – a story of an ex intelligence officer in industryEx intelligence officers face many challenges adjusting to civilian life. This is a 4 page story to illustrate the transition, and the challenge of hiding their background.
- Forced confession – a 2-page story of an analyst’s dilemaThe forced confession was in stilted Arabic with words that the suspect never used, and the recording from the interview had been replaced by a transcript.
- Intelligence agencies – shed the introverted thinkingIntelligence agencies have introverted thinking. They adapt to new threats & technology, but their attitudes are a danger to themselves, the public and peace.
- Intelligence work needs a “duty of care” to the publicSecret intelligence can hurt the innocent. Intelligence workers should have a duty of care to everyone with whom they come into contact.
- Obsessive secrecy in intelligence agencies – the dangersObsessive secrecy dominates the work of intelligence agencies as well as some areas of commercial intelligence. Obsessive secrecy is an ethical challenge.
- Person Lurking – story of AI in intelligence analysisPerson lurking by Zone Sierra. Nervous movement, potential improvised explosive device. The automated intelligence analysis flashed on Tessa’s screen.
- Presumed guilty – a story of intrusive surveillance‘She’s a journalist, that makes her guilty,’ the intelligence officer declared. ‘Get me evidence for intrusive surveillance and we’ll find her dirty secrets.’
- Rage – an intimidation case“Intimidation case.” Hans listened to the man in the red shirt. The man in the red shirt inspected Hans’s mobile then powered it off. “Secrecy first,” he said.
- The Poltergeist – an intrusive surveillance examplePoltergeist! The words throbbed in Sabra’s mind as she inspected what had moved. …
- The price of secrecy-first – a 2½-page storyMikael’s secrecy-first speech was cut short by the minister. ‘Tell me more about this cyber-attack. Are they really intending to cripple our railway network?’
- The secret devil’s advocate – a story of managing the unknownThe Secret Devil’s Advocate is a fictional account of managing “unknown unknowns”. The 7-page story illustrates standard methods, listed here.
- Too many presidents – how to protect data privacy rightsA young business analyst must confront her feared boss. The 3-page story covers data privacy rights in a large company, and snooping by intelligence agencies. The story also illustrates how to manage unknown-unknowns.
