Opinion: Snooping through medical records is so three months ago
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
It looks like medical records aren’t the only treasure trove for obsessive celebrity watchers. The Washington Post recently reported that their passport records aren’t so safe either:
Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization inside the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity’s records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people.... The report documented a widespread lack of controls on the personal data of the 127 million Americans who hold passports, finding numerous ‘weaknesses, including a general lack of policies, procedures, guidance and training.’ The State Department had maintained that its system worked when the candidates’ passport breaches were discovered.
That opening factoid is my favorite part of the story: which celebrity’s whereabouts could be so valued that over 70 people broke the rules a few times each (on average) to get it? My guess is Angelina Jolie, or Madonna.
Next favorite part? The headline: ‘Celebrity passport records popular.’ You know, just like Perez Hilton’s practice of outing people or tabloids’ detailing medical records, passport records are just popular sources of information that we should freely be able to access.