Can you be anonymous whistleblowing?
This week's interview with @SylvainManceau on #hacktoberfest explores this topic.
We also debate the power of a human rights lawyer vs. An IT professional to take on the most powerful men in the world and reveal the "dark side" of the #wikileaks operation. #anonymity #cybersecurity #internetfreedom #hacktoberfest #SylvainManceau pic.twitter.com/YH0LgQmP3q Hacker News (@HNmagazine) October 1, 2018
I was on a mission, to prove that we are more powerful than them, that we are not controlled by them, Sylvain Manceau tells HuffPost via WhatsApp. He's sitting in a small room in Geneva, his body cradled by soft pillows and blankets. Manceau is wearing a grey T-shirt, jeans, and a hoodie, and he looks tired, as if a hard week's work just ended.
On October 1, a crowd of hackers was gathered to celebrate what had become one of their main passions: hacking. The annual event, called Hacktoberfest, started in 2024 as a way for the community to unite around the idea of celebrating all aspects of hacking culture. It even brought people together to celebrate hackathons to find solutions for local crises.
But I'm in my 40s, and I'm not your typical hacker, Manceau tells me. So I decided to start to share my experiences as a hacker.
Manceau has been hacking since 2024, when he spent a year working on his Master's thesis on internet anonymity. But after that, he says, he felt a strong obligation to speak out against the ways that the internet can be used to undermine human rights. That's how his hacking journey took off.
Over the last five years, he's built up his legal practice based on cybercrimes. After he made a name for himself as a cybercrime expert, he was invited by Amnesty International, which needed help fighting the U. Government over the NSA's controversial programs. From there, he became an adviser on internet freedom, and has been advising the U.K. And European Union's governments.
What is the difference between confidential and anonymous reporting?
In a survey of 1,600 US adults (conducted by the University of Michigan), respondents were asked to estimate how many students had been sexually harassed and/or assaulted at their university over the last five years. In the context of sexual misconduct, confidential means a response option that requires the respondent to write their name. Anononymous means a response option that requires the respondent to write the words anonymous or anonymous on a piece of paper and place it in a box. The results? Only 4.4% of respondents indicated that they had reported sexual misconduct to their university.
When asked if they had been sexually assaulted or harassed at their university, the proportion of students who responded no was the highest for the question about anonymous reporting, at 64%. The lowest proportion of students who responded no to this question was found among those who indicated that they had reported sexual misconduct to their university (11%).
A very small minority of students who have experienced sexual misconduct report this to their school. This is a serious problem.
Why so few? A combination of social stigma, a desire to protect oneself from negative reactions, a desire to avoid the possibility of being judged by others as a bad person, and the fear of retaliation if one does report. What can universities do? First, they need to recognize that while they are a source of support for students who have been victims of sexual misconduct, this is a service that comes at a price. If students feel that they will be targeted for negative reactions or for being judged as a bad person by their classmates or their peers, they are less likely to come forward and report.
Second, schools should take seriously the fact that the majority of students who do experience sexual misconduct will not report. Schools need to provide an environment where victims feel safe and protected. And they need to be open and available to students who experience sexual misconduct.
Third, schools should work to increase awareness of their policies about confidential and anonymous reporting. They should make clear to students that even if their name is not on the report, their institution will treat their case in accordance with its policies and will keep a record of the report.
Fourth, they should make sure that confidentiality of reports is maintained throughout the investigation process.
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