Are they idiots or are they setting up a trap to replicate what happened in 2006 with insecure information? I personally did not download this database but a number of MNpublius readers had emailed or commented in the thread sharing the public link. In other words, the information is out there now. It is also extremely likely that the availability of this database was known about for months if not longer and just not publicized until now.
Team Coleman should apologize to its supporters for not securing their personal information and allowing anyone on the Internet to obtain these records.
Adria Richards and Paul Schmelzer have stories.
UPDATE: Adria Richards will broadcast the contents of Coleman’s database at 3:30 PM CT today.
Coleman certainly dropped the ball or is carrying out some very poor subterfuge but there is something I don’t understand from your end. The tenor of the post is criticizing Coleman for such a blatant failure in data security and you chastise him wanting him to apologize to those whose information has been leaked. Yet in the post you state you won’t post the database link here but you post a URL to others who will. Whats your goal here? Should it be to punish Coleman for screwing up or use it for political advantage? This information shouldn’t be thrown about, chastise him for the failure but don’t put those people’s information at risk, regardless of your intentions.
The Strib is saying that Coleman purposely posted the database for people to be able to check and see if their absentee ballot had been rejected, and that so many people went to look at it that it crashed the site…
Huh?
Coleman’s team is worse than Clinton’s primary team. Pathetic.
I visited that link myself, because I was so shocked that it could be set up so insecurely. If Coleman hasn’t secured it yet, he is a bigger idiot than I could have imagined.
For anyone downloading the database, consider that it is probably a crime. I understand it is a criminal act to access information on a computer that you know does not belong to you. It doesn’t matter how secure the computer is. If you know you are not supposed to be there, its a crime to take information.
I am not a lawyer, but that is my understanding of the law.
Of course, judging from the Venerable Bede’s comment above, a person who downloaded the data could have believed it was placed there for that purpose I guess. That could be a simple misunderstanding.
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