Article: Watch those attachments!

Another helpful reminder from a (hopefully remorseful and sheepish) organizer of the Rupublican convention that you need to double-check your attachments before clicking send.

E-mail to volunteers gets a bit personal

BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS
STAFF WRITER

August 26, 2004

Oops! A welcome e-mail that was sent to hundreds of volunteers for the Republican National Convention inadvertently included the name, address, Social Security number, race and other personal information of those volunteers.

The e-mail, with a subject header of "Transportation Volunteer Information - Final Email Before Your Arrival to NYC," was sent out yesterday across the country and apparently was to serve as a checklist for transportation volunteers' arrival on Saturday.

At the end of the e-mail, two attachments, which when opened, display private information such as volunteers' home, work and mobile phone numbers as well as their birthdates, rooming information and other personal information. The information, if it landed in the wrong hands, would be a security concern.

"The attachment was inadvertent," Leonardo Alcivar, spokesman for the Republican National Convention, said yesterday. "As a precaution, security [personnel] has been alerted and will take any additional steps necessary to protect the integrity of anyone listed."

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Thanks to PrivacySpot for the pointer.