The Wall Street Journal recently launched its own Wikileaks-like website called SafeHouse, but the site has been criticized for not having strong protections of sources, according to Mediabistro’s Fishbowl NY.
Gawker spotted a loophole in SafeHouse’s terms of service [emphasis ours]:
“Except when we have a separately negotiated confidentiality agreement… we reserve the right to disclose any information about you to law enforcement authorities or to a requesting third party, without notice, in order to comply with any applicable laws and/or requests under legal process, to operate our systems properly, to protect the property or rights of Dow Jones or any affiliated companies, and to safeguard the interests of others.”
Gawker added that WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum has listed flaws in SafeHouse via Twitter.
More criticism of the site can be read here. The WSJ responded to criticism stating that source protection is “our number one priority” but that the Terms of Use clause is so the WSJ has “flexibility to react to extraordinary circumstances.”