But with that information another candidate can slander or question why a person is going to such and such locations. It's just a matter of privacy and decency when working for a government agency. I don't want joe schmoe knowing where and when I've been, it's none of their business. So if they looked at Barrack's info who knows who else they could have accessed illegally.

 

hospital workers fired over viewing britney's file :run: gasp

 

Watergate all over again :eek5r:

 

1) Candidates or not, those records are privileged by law. Just because someone runs for president, they don't automatically waive their rights to the privacy of their personal information. The private life of a president or a presidential candidate is NOT an open book, as some people seem to think it is or should be.

2) Your SS# and home address are part of your passport records, even though those items are not printed on the passport.

3) Plenty of famous people have been victims of identity theft, or worse. Just ask US Senator Ted Kennedy. He was repeatedly hassled when attempting to board airplanes for the better part of two years, just because someone using the name "Ted Kennedy" got placed on a terrorist watch list.

 

The big picture is:

1) The government already knows far too much about you...facts that they have no need to know.

2) The records that were accessed were, by law, privileged information and not for anyone/everyone to see.

3) Secret Service protection doesn't keep one's identity from being stolen. If you have a passport, the Department of State has your Social Security number, and that's all an identity thief needs to steal money from you, wreck your credit score and make your life a living hell.

Keep burying your head in the sand if you prefer...but maybe you won't be so nonchalant about this kind of thing if/when it happens to you.

Almost forgot:

4) Secret Service protection didn't do all that much for Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy, George Wallace or John F. Kennedy, did it?

 

:shake: Since it has already happened to the candidates, the point is that it can happen to you.

In the Obama breaches, the shift supervisors didn't even report the firing of the offending employees to their boss. Why should you - as a taxpayer - trust that system?