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palmoteayesterday at 4:25 PM1 replyview on HN

I think that's exactly what will happen.

When a competent journalist gets a leaked document, they'll learn to only summarize it, but won't quote it verbatim or duplicate it. That'll circumvent and kind of passive leak-detection system that could reveal their source.

Then the only thing that would reveal the source is if the authority starts telling suspected leakers entirely different things, to see what gets out.


Replies

jihadjihadyesterday at 4:42 PM

> Then the only thing that would reveal the source is if the authority starts telling suspected leakers entirely different things, to see what gets out.

This is called a canary trap [0], a well-trodden technique in the real world and fiction alike.

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_trap