▲

It's no secret that governments around the world keep tons of highly sensitive information classified. When these secrets are no longer a matter of national security, they're typically declassified and released to archives and the press. However, not all government disclosures are intentional, indeed revealing classified information related to geopolitics, international relations and democracy.

Check out the gallery for some of the biggest government secrets that were accidentally made public.

▲

The US Justice Department is currently investigating a major leak of classified documents from the Pentagon which first appeared on the social platform Discord. CNN reported that photos of more than 50 crumpled documents were posted online, all of which were classified and some of which were marked "top secret," the highest level of classification. The papers contained highly sensitive information, including details on how the US spies on other countries, both friends and enemies, as well as intelligence on the war in Ukraine.

The information in the leak reveals some weaknesses in "Ukrainian weaponry, air defense, and battalion sizes and readiness at a critical point in the war," according to CNN. A source close to Ukraine's President Zelensky says that they have already altered some of their military strategies due to the leak. The documents also exposed details of how the US has infiltrated the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary organization, which may now put their sources at risk.

▲

On April 13, 2023, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard named Jack Teixeira was arrested "without incident." He was located at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts, and taken into custody for his alleged involvement in the leaks. Teixeira was discovered to have many weapons in his home and a history of violent rhetoric online. The public has responded with shock at the high level of clearance granted to the young employee, despite obvious red flags in his record.

▲

In 2008, the BBC reported that a Cabinet Office employee had left two reports on a train that contained top-secret intelligence on Al-Qaeda.

▲

The reports contained analysis made by the Joint Intelligence Committee: one on Iraq's security forces, and another titled "Al-Qaeda Vulnerabilities," a highly classified document commissioned by the Foreign Office and the Home Office.

▲

The final document was marked "for UK/US/Canadian and Australian eyes only." It was speculated to contain information useful to Britain's enemies.

▲

In 2015, Reuters reported that personal information of some 191 million US voters was leaked online. That means that the leak exposed the details of roughly 79% of those eligible to vote.

▲

Details of the leak included names, addresses, birthdates, party affiliations, phone numbers, and emails, which could potentially have been used by fraudsters looking for targets.

▲

However, despite the colossal size of the leak, it's unclear who's responsible for the database's creation and its exposure.

▲

In March 2008, a few months before the top-secret Al-Qaeda documents were left on a London train, it was revealed that over 1,000 laptops had gone missing in various departments of the British government.

▲

The Ministry of Defense, a department central to the nation's security, lost 503 laptops and 23 personal computers between 1998 and 2008. Hundreds more laptops were lost by the Department of Health, Ministry of Justice, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

▲

It's unclear how many were lost and how many were stolen. One of the most notable losses occurred in March 2000, when a drunken MI6 agent lost a laptop during a boozy visit to a London bar. Fortunately, the laptop was found two weeks later.

▲

In January 2018, the Australian Broadcast Corporation reported that highly-classified Australian government files were found in two filing cabinets that had been sold by a secondhand store in Canberra.

▲

Shut with padlocks, the new owner managed to drill them open, where he discovered tons of documents that had first-hand accounts of the Howard, Rudd, Gillard, and Abbott governments.

▲

The majority of the documents were classified as "top secret." And many contained numerous revelations, for example that Tony Abbott's government considered banning anyone under 30 from receiving unemployment benefits.

▲

In 2021, it was reported that American soldiers stationed in Europe had accidentally leaked nuclear secrets on study apps, such as Chegg, Quizlet, and Cram.

▲

The soldiers used these apps for their flashcard function, which allowed them to study and memorize the strict and complex security protocols.

▲

The presence of US nuclear weapons within European borders has been leaked before. However, the leaks in 2021 also disclosed their quantity and location.

▲

Barack Obama had been president for five months when the Government Printing Office published a 266-page report about the nation's nuclear program.

▲

The report featured maps displaying exact locations of fuel used to launch nuclear weapons. The majority of its pages were marked as "Highly Confidential Safeguards Sensitive."

▲

The report focused on the nuclear weapons laboratories in Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia, as well as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

▲

Trello is a tool that allows teams to structure and collaborate on tasks using boards. Typically, these boards are set to private, however, the British government accidentally used the public setting back in 2018.

▲

By using the public setting, hundreds of confidential government files could be found by a simple Google search. The leaked information included anti-terrorism documents and instructional texts about entry passes for government buildings.

▲

Names, phone numbers, and email addresses of senior civil servants and agents were all exposed. Even their calendar appointments were made public.

▲

In 2011, The Guardian reported that the Ministry of Defense (MOD) had published secrets about the UK's nuclear fleet on its website.

▲

The information included a detailed analysis on the fleet's ability to withstand a serious accident, concluding that existing reactors were potentially vulnerable. The leak also shared measures taken by the US Navy to protect its respective fleet.

▲

The compromising information was part of a larger document that the MOD had blacked out. However, it soon became apparent that the text could be revealed by copying and pasting the document into a separate word processor. Yikes!

▲

When journalist Curtis Waltman filled a Freedom of Information Act request to Washington State Fusion Center (WSFC), he received documents about mysterious weapons.

▲

Waltman was inquiring with WSFC about clashes between Antifa and the far right, and not experimental weapons. He received a
zip file named "EM effects on human body.zip," which contained detailed diagrams showing the apparent effects of these mystery weapons.

▲

The weapons could apparently inflict muscle quaking, all-body pain, and sleep prevention, as well as strange psychological effects. The WSFC didn't provide any further information, prompting suspicion that the document was sent by error.

▲

It may not be a matter of national security, but in 2021, documents detailing what would happen when Queen Elizabeth died were leaked to the press.

▲

Dubbed "Operation London Bridge," her death would be notified first by phone calls to the prime minister, the cabinet secretary, and other high-ranking officials. Then, the royal household would notify the British public via an official notification statement.

▲

Queen Elizabeth's death was referred to as D-Day, which would be followed by nine further days of procedures and protocols. The monarch's funeral would be held at Westminster Abbey, and two minutes' silence would be held nationally at midday. Almost exactly a year later, Operation London Bridge was called into effect when she passed away on September 8 at the age of 96.

Sources: (Grunge) (Reuters) (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)