The Guardian reported Monday that an Australian government employee accidentally emailed the personal information of multiple world leaders to the wrong recipient. That employee’s superiors then decided to just not mention to anyone that it happened.
The information was specifically the passport and visa information of 31 world leaders who had come to the 2014 Brisbane G-20 summit, a global political conference. On the list were Barack Obama, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian president Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Rather than government officials, the email was accidentally sent to the organizing committee of the Asian Cup soccer tournament.
Reactions from the White House seem to be subdued, and there was no mention of the mistake on Obama’s or Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz’s Twitter. Of course, that does not mean that NBC’s Twitter was not full of vague conspiracy theories.
Barack Obama's passport details accidentally revealed: report http://t.co/AlQI37itPb pic.twitter.com/ybQqtcgE5Y
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 30, 2015
@NBCNews accidently? Yah...sure
— DreamingFool (@KNXSMPRE) March 30, 2015
What they seem to be implying here is uncertain, but it definitely involves Obama’s passport, and probably involves Australia. Maybe Tony Abbot trying to steal Obama’s frequent flyer miles?
Which identity was he using in the college years, @NBCNews?
You should know this, right?
After all, you're a "news" organization.
— VACUOUS CIPHER (@THE_DAILY_BLEAT) March 30, 2015
Apparently “Barack Obama” is an alias, and NBC is not a real news agency. Who knew.
The recipients of the email reportedly did everything they could to delete the information, and the employee reported to their superiors about the mistake. Three of the countries involved have laws that require them to be notified when data like this is let loose, and in addition, it does seem like something someone should know about.
Despite these concerns, the official investigating at the time was quoted as saying, “Given that the risks of the breach are considered very low and the actions that have been taken to limit the further distribution of the email, I do not consider it necessary to notify the clients of the breach.”
Although law, security concerns and even common decency might have said otherwise, the administrator seems to think that emailing someone about it would be too much trouble. After all, they might have sent it to the wrong person.
state@dailytarheel.com
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