Transparency Weaponized Against Scientists
(re-published from Science 2.0) How could you destroy someone with their own words, if their words present no evidence of wrongdoing? It actually is amazingly simple, and illustrates the danger of limitless access to personal emails through public records requests. In this post I will show how two writers for a PLoS One Blog* blatantly misrepresent content obtained through such a request. This is how scandals are manufactured from nothing. They fail to fact-check information with a non-opaque effort to harm the reputation of a public scientist. I know, because that scientist is me. Here’s the story. Back in February I received a Public Records Request from a California activist group that demanded my emails back to 2012. This was the first time I ever heard of such things. After 27 years in public science I’d never thought that my emails were anyone’s property other than my own. I had to comply, and did. The story has been covered here and here .