3 ms·

> It has come to our attention that MeridianLink, in light of a significant breach... SEC whistleblower information has to be original, which I presume means y

> It has come to our attention that MeridianLink, in light of a significant breach... SEC whistleblower information has to be original, which I presume means you have to have direct knowledge of infractions, rather than just claiming someone told you about them. So in this case a drawback of the hacker's plan would seem to be that they'd have to cop to the crime in order to be eligible for an award.

filoleg 3y ago
> SEC whistleblower information has to be original, which I presume means you have to have direct knowledge of infractions, rather than just claiming someone told you about them. I think of it like walking outside and accidentally encountering a physical briefcase containing documents that could be used for whistleblowing. SEC would still honor the award for that person, right? I am not an expert on this, so it was a genuine question, not rhetorical. I always assumed that the “original” part was mostly referring to “no, we are not giving you the award because you are the 50th person to blow the whistle on this”, and “direct knowledge” was referring to “you actually gotta have some proof of wrongdoing happening and not just try to gather an award from SEC because your dad working at Nintendo told you so.” So my guess was that documents obtained through a hack would not be an issue for SEC, as long as you were the original reporter (aka no one had reported this before you) and the documents actually provide some evidence of the wrongdoing that is more substantial than just hearsay.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > walking outside and accidentally encountering a physical briefcase containing documents that could be used for whistleblowing. SEC would still honor the award for that person, right? Maybe not. I doubt those materials would be admissible in court. (They might support a search warrant.)
  - filoleg 3y ago
    > I doubt those materials would be admissible in court. As long as legitimacy of those documents is confirmed in court, why would they be inadmissible? From my perspective on admissibility, I don’t see much of a difference between the whistleblower scenario and a random person walking on the street, noticing something that could be a crime evidence (e.g., a blood trail), reporting it to the relevant authorities, and then that blood trail being used as a piece of evidence in court. What about the FBI most wanted list, where they promise monetary awards for tips that could lead to the person on the poster? Because if passerby’s just randomly encountering helpful info like that aren’t qualified for the awards, the bar becomes almost impossible to satisfy, unless you are directly involved with people you are providing info on (which eliminates a massive group of whistleblowers that are third-party witnesses)
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > As long as legitimacy of those documents is confirmed in court, why would they be inadmissible? In the process of confirming legitimacy, you'll get the originals. Random stuff found on a street could be a fictitious creation or misconstrued. If you saw who dropped off the briefcase, that might count as observation. I would see the SEC having a hard time not counting that as "original information." > What about the FBI most wanted list, where they promise monetary awards for tips that could lead to the person on the poster? Tips versus "information," from what I understand. That said, it's very much an open book [1]. [1] https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/sec-whistleblower-dodd-frank-act/ https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/sec-whistleblower-dodd-fr...
      - filoleg 3y ago
        > Tips versus "information" Is there an actual distinction between those two terms in this context? I strongly doubt it, given that the official SEC page for whistleblowing uses "tips" and "information" fully interchangeably. For example, here is a quote[0] from a section at the top with instructions: >> Submit a Tip >>To qualify for an award under the Whistleblower Program, you must submit information regarding possible securities law violations to the Commission in one of the following two ways: >> (1) By submitting a tip electronically through the SEC’s Tips, Complaints and Referrals Portal by clicking the button below. >> (2) By mailing or faxing a Form TCR to:[...] 0. https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower/submit-a-tip https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower/submit-a-tip

filoleg 3y ago

> SEC whistleblower information has to be original, which I presume means you have to have direct knowledge of infractions, rather than just claiming someone told you about them. I think of it like walking outside and accidentally encountering a physical briefcase containing documents that could be used for whistleblowing. SEC would still honor the award for that person, right? I am not an expert on this, so it was a genuine question, not rhetorical. I always assumed that the “original” part was mostly referring to “no, we are not giving you the award because you are the 50th person to blow the whistle on this”, and “direct knowledge” was referring to “you actually gotta have some proof of wrongdoing happening and not just try to gather an award from SEC because your dad working at Nintendo told you so.” So my guess was that documents obtained through a hack would not be an issue for SEC, as long as you were the original reporter (aka no one had reported this before you) and the documents actually provide some evidence of the wrongdoing that is more substantial than just hearsay.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> walking outside and accidentally encountering a physical briefcase containing documents that could be used for whistleblowing. SEC would still honor the award for that person, right? Maybe not. I doubt those materials would be admissible in court. (They might support a search warrant.)
- filoleg 3y ago
  > I doubt those materials would be admissible in court. As long as legitimacy of those documents is confirmed in court, why would they be inadmissible? From my perspective on admissibility, I don’t see much of a difference between the whistleblower scenario and a random person walking on the street, noticing something that could be a crime evidence (e.g., a blood trail), reporting it to the relevant authorities, and then that blood trail being used as a piece of evidence in court. What about the FBI most wanted list, where they promise monetary awards for tips that could lead to the person on the poster? Because if passerby’s just randomly encountering helpful info like that aren’t qualified for the awards, the bar becomes almost impossible to satisfy, unless you are directly involved with people you are providing info on (which eliminates a massive group of whistleblowers that are third-party witnesses)
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > As long as legitimacy of those documents is confirmed in court, why would they be inadmissible? In the process of confirming legitimacy, you'll get the originals. Random stuff found on a street could be a fictitious creation or misconstrued. If you saw who dropped off the briefcase, that might count as observation. I would see the SEC having a hard time not counting that as "original information." > What about the FBI most wanted list, where they promise monetary awards for tips that could lead to the person on the poster? Tips versus "information," from what I understand. That said, it's very much an open book [1]. [1] https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/sec-whistleblower-dodd-frank-act/ https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/sec-whistleblower-dodd-fr...
    - filoleg 3y ago
      > Tips versus "information" Is there an actual distinction between those two terms in this context? I strongly doubt it, given that the official SEC page for whistleblowing uses "tips" and "information" fully interchangeably. For example, here is a quote[0] from a section at the top with instructions: >> Submit a Tip >>To qualify for an award under the Whistleblower Program, you must submit information regarding possible securities law violations to the Commission in one of the following two ways: >> (1) By submitting a tip electronically through the SEC’s Tips, Complaints and Referrals Portal by clicking the button below. >> (2) By mailing or faxing a Form TCR to:[...] 0. https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower/submit-a-tip https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower/submit-a-tip