It is amazing, how easy legal and moral requirements for the handling of critical information come into conflict. The copyright forbids the commercial re-use of images, quotations and the like without the agreement of the author. In addition, the contract law that obligates to secrecy forbids the dissemination of internal information. At the same time, responsible citizens should reveal abuse relentlessly. Are we today in a dilemma concerning our rights and duties in the handling of information?

When we look more closely, we find the following groups of persons, who are occupied professionally or for other reasons with such contents.

• The commercial ‘information brokers’, who earn fully responsible their money with spying, are called detectives, spies, undercover agents and scouts.
• The persons, who hand over facts mostly unconsciously, are the leaks, by which secrets arrive inadvertently at the public.
• The groups of informer, who report and/or denounce individuals or organizations to the government or responsible authorities.
• The unveiler, who publishes data, uncovers defects or releases an alarm, is called whistle-blower.
• The slanderers or agitator delivers wrong allusions among the people.

Are the laws indiscriminately valid for these groups? What are the differences? Do laws and/or social expectations exist that contradict each other? Is the spy above the law of a country? Does the social responsibility of a whistle-blower weigh more than work contract that binds to secrecy? Is it actually legal to agree illegal behavior in a work contract?

After more than seventy years, everybody agrees that the civilian disobedience in the third realm was civil duty. Do we have to wait another seventy years, until the current cases of unauthorized disclosure of secrets are valued in the same way?

Bottom line: Provide measures in your governance, so that the employees can report internally about abuse, potential violations of the law and inadequate behavior, without risking sanctions. At the same time make it clear, which are consequences of sharing of secrets.