According to Vickery, the leaked World-Check database contains more than 2.2 Million records of people with suspected terrorist, organized crime, money laundering, bribery, corruption links, and “other unsavory activities.” World-Check database is published by Thomson Reuters and is used by 4,500 world institutions, including 49 of the world’s 50 largest banks, more than 300 government and intelligence agencies, and law firms. Thomson Reuters publishes the database in utmost secrecy and access to it is strongly restricted under European privacy laws. When asked about the leaked World-Check 2014 global terrorism database, Reuters said that an unnamed third-party may have leaked outdated version of the database online. Vickery stated on the Reddit thread that he did not indulge in any sort of hack to access the database. Vickery said that the database did not have any protection or encryption and he could view the database without login credentials after downloading it. Vickery said that the database was still openly available online despite him informing Thomson Reuters about its online location. According to Vickery, the downloaded database contains a number of categories along with the terror suspects dates and places of birth in an effort to help banks and government entities check they are looking into the right people.The World-Check database has repeatedly been accused of falsely designating individuals and organizations as terrorists on the list without their knowledge.
