Worse case scenario: "You can take the hard drive out and whack it with a hammer" until it's destroyed.Dataloss is a huge problem. It's bad enough when computers are stolen or hacked into, but when a political party loses track of a laptop listing its membership and it ends up being sold on Ebay for $6.48, somebody deserves a proverbial smack upside the head.
And while some people don't seem to mind that details of their membership in the former Canadian Alliance party was potentially made available worldwide, I'm sure several of Diane Ablonczy's Calgary constituents will not be quite as forgiving.
The computer contains names, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses for party members in Calgary-Nose Hill and it even contains the very agreement that outlines how the confidential data should be protected.
"The Parties agree that this system and the information contained in it are confidential and will only be used for the purposes of the Canadian Alliance, the Licensors or the Licensee," the agreement read.
Hmmm...I don't see "and anyone in the world who has $7" in that statement.
The documents list more than 4,200 people who in the spring of 2003 held party membership cards, or whose membership has lapsed. They also contain the riding association's budget documents and agendas for events such as the candidate selection meeting held in April 2003.
On top of that, the laptop contained three Canadian Alliance screening and protocol guides for potential candidates, and questions for the incumbent, Ablonczy.
Yes, Ablonczy is darn lucky that the guy (a Toronto Star employeee) who bought that laptop is honest and will be happy with his 15 minutes of fame. Ablonczy, her constituents and whoever sold that laptop should be counting their blessings and they should give the guy a reward, as far as I'm concerned.
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