Heather Brooke
Heather Brooke
Heather Rose Brookeis a British-American journalist and freedom of information campaigner. Resident since the 1990s in the UK, she helped to expose the 2009 expenses scandal, which culminated in the resignation of House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
CountryUnited States of America
bad certainly public
Parliamentarians certainly know how to do bad public relations.
america good government people
I know people don't like America very much, but the one thing it's very good on is local government.
age digital government officials seizure
Unwarranted search and seizure by the government officials was unacceptable to the American revolutionaries. Shouldn't it be unacceptable in the digital age, too?
america attitude frowned journalist paying sources trained work
I trained as a journalist in America where paying sources is frowned upon. Now I work in the U.K. where there is a more flexible attitude.
came england gave mom
When I was 26 or 27, I gave up journalism. I came to England after my mom died, to let serendipity take its course. And I just found myself back in journalism again.
agency considered domestic intelligence national protection sharing spy
In America, you have the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. You've got drones now being considered for domestic surveillance. You have the National Security Agency building the world's giantest spy center.
everybody log slightly
Slightly embarrassing admission: Even when I was a kid, I used to have these little spy books, and I would, like, see what everybody was doing in my neighborhood and log it down.
agenda authors becomes books current events goes timely
As the news agenda goes into warp speed, it becomes ever more difficult for authors writing about current events to keep their books timely and relevant.
english equivalent hold knowledge open places primary social
Hackerspaces are the digital-age equivalent of English Enlightenment coffee houses. They are places open to all, indifferent to social status, and where ideas and knowledge hold primary value.
crime falsity life patience politics
When you're a crime reporter, you see the nub of what life's about, and you don't have much patience for the falsity of politics.
We are not naughty children, and the state is not our parent.
people stories
A lot of people have a lot to gain from peddling scare stories about cyber 'warfare.'
act affecting bush grew grips individual loud patriot protests public pushed weeks
Say what you will about Americans, but one thing they are not is passive. The Bush administration may have pushed through the Patriot Act weeks after 11 September, but, as the American public got to grips with how the law was affecting their individual rights, their protests grew loud and angry.
afford becomes benefit care club community costs cozy entire justice lawyers middle public solely sort system
If the public can't see justice being done, or afford the costs of justice, then the entire system becomes little more than a cozy club solely for the benefit of judges, lawyers and their lackeys, a sort of care in the community for the upper middle classes.