April 9, 2007
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NEWS: The White House's Info BlunderA standard follow-up trip report brief concerning a group of reporters who recently traveled to Latin America with President Bush has caused a flurry of negative press for the White House this week. It seems that the president's media team saw fit to include sensitive personal information in the e-mails sent to news media groups. The crucial factoids of identity theft, such as social security and personal passport numbers as well as dates of birth, were contained in the form e-mail that the White House Travel Office sent out in what's usually the primary step of billing for the reporters' trips.
Many of the reporters "went crazy," by their own accounts, when they saw the e-mails, and became aware of the vulnerabilities exposed by the information therein.
Among those well-known television news reporters that took the trip were CBS's Bill Plante, Fox's Bret Baier, CNN's Ed Henry and NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. The report brief generally is limited to only the names of those on the trip and what expenses they incurred on their travels. The controversial e-mail was sent to media bureau billers and office officials. The reporters pointed out that they certainly do not personally know everyone that the e-mail recipient list encompassed, and that now they fear that they identities might have fallen into the hands of less-than-ethical individuals.
C-SPAN network's Steve Scully, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, cited the slip as an honest mistake. Scully reported that within a mere day following the e-mails' transmission the travel office authorities apologized and attempted retrieve the e-mails. The incident reportedly accelerated plans by the president's travel officials to implement a new, more secure system of billing for reporters and other media. Some news media firms aren't waiting around to watch that happen, however - they are warning news correspondents to monitor their charge accounts for suspicious activity.
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