Obama passport breach... will it get worse?

by New York Civil Liberties Union, Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 03:30:27 PM EST

The State Department says employees who improperly accessed the passport files of the three major presidential candidates were guilty of "imprudent curiosity." It makes one wonder how many other employees or independent contractors in the vast federal bureaucracy are similarly curious. How it could be so easy to improperly access passport files that imprudently curious employees can do so on a whim during training sessions. Were they being trained in domestic surveillance? Do they have similar access to restricted files while on their coffee breaks? How about at home? It's disconcerting that senior State Department officials only learned of this incident after a reporter contacted them about it. It suggests they don't run a very tight ship when it comes to guarding Americans' personal information. This from the administration that so desperately wants to implement the Real ID Act, a law that would consolidate Americans' DMV records into a network of interlinking databases accessible to the federal government and bureaucrats throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories. These records, possibly including digital copies of birth certificates, Social Security cards and other sensitive documents, would be accessible to thousands of state and federal bureaucrats - some of whom are certain to be imprudently curious. The Bush administration has made sure there are no limits in place in the amount of information kept in the Real ID database. The potential for abuse is boundless. This is one of many reasons why the New York Civil Liberties Union is fighting to block the implementation of the Real ID Act in New York and throughout the country. Government bureaucrats can and do make mistakes. Our lawmakers should do everything possible to ensure that Americans' personal information is secure. They could start by repealing the Real ID Act.




Tags: Obama, passport, McCain, Clinton, Civil Liberties, Abuse of Power, Technology, Real ID, Privacy (all tags)

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Re: Obama passport breach... will it get worse? (2.00 / 1)

It would seem more prudent for our esteemed president to spend more time insisting the system works than providing financial immunities to the telecoms. All along we've had a focus on making sure Republican donors were taken care of rather than protecting the citizens My god, $3B to build a stinking wall.

OK. Rant over. Thank you for bearing with me.


by tharr on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 03:40:52 PM EST

Re: Obama passport breach... will it get worse? (none / 0)

I'd say it's already worse.  The fact that now all three candidates files are revealed to have been breached is a clear sign this wasn't "imprudent curiosity" as the administration tried to spin it.  Less than a few hours into the scandal, and BushCo is lying already.

Investigate, impeach, imprison.


Nos causidicus Obama , ergo nos non suadeo
by rb608 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 03:50:17 PM EST

Computers, Freedom, & Privacy Conference (none / 0)

May 20-23, New Haven, CT website
Facebook group
blog

This election year will be the first to address US technology policy in the information age as part of our national debate. Candidates have put forth positions about technology policy and have recognized that it has its own set of economic, political, and social concerns. In the areas of privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and freedom of speech, an increasing number of issues once confined to experts now penetrate public conversation. Our decisions about technology policy are being made at a time when the architectures of our information and communication technologies are still being built. Debate about these issues needs to be better-informed in order for us to make policy choices in the public interest.

This year, the 18th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference will focus on what constitutes technology policy. CFP: Technology Policy '08 is an opportunity to help shape public debate on those issues being made into laws and regulations and those technological infrastructures being developed. The direction of our technology policy impacts the choices we make about our national defense, our civil liberties during wartime, the future of American education, our national healthcare systems, and many other realms of policy discussed more prominently on the election trail. Policies ranging from data mining and wiretapping, to file-sharing and open access, and e-voting to electronic medical records will be addressed by expert panels of technologists, policymakers, business leaders, and advocates.

Not yet official, looks like Sen. Feingold will deliver the keynote.




Democratic Candidate, US Senate, Wisconsin 2012
by benmasel on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 04:09:20 PM EST


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