A respected Oxford historian has sparked international debate this week as he urged governments to reconsider what information really needs to be protected in light of WikiLeaks.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European Studies, said, “Every organisation should think very hard about what it is you really need to protect. You’re probably protecting a whole lot you don’t need to. And then do everything you can to protect that smaller amount.”
He added, “I do not believe that the online world means that there can be no secrecy and everyone will know everything about everyone.”
He spoke at a closed session at the Forum where participants wrestled with the thorny questions surfaced by the explosion of online information and the WikiLeaks phenomenon in particular.
