The *Miami Herald* reports (1 Nov 2000) that "A Miami man's [Jerry Haygood]
spelling mistake during an Internet search led him to sensitive e-mail
messages sent to state government officials that had been inadvertently left
for public view on a state Department of Health website."
The information included a letter from an HIV patient seeking a doctor and
other sensitive medical documents.
Mr. Haygood apparently typed "liscence" into a Dept. of Health search
window. As the Herald reports [with my bracketed addition], One of the
files that popped into the list of search results was a list of questions or
comments e-mailed to the [www.myflorida.com] site. Most bore the sender's
name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Roy Cales, the state's
information technology chief, said Tuesday that Haygood's misspelling set
off `a strange glitch . . . in the code that triggered the access' to what
should have been a private section of the Health Department computer. As of
late Tuesday, no one was sure exactly what triggered the glitch or whether a
similar error could allow access to other areas thought to be private.
"`All we can say is that we are really sorry,' Cales said, `and that we
will do whatever it takes'' to prevent a reoccurrence.'"
A. Michael Froomkin, Professor of Law, U. Miami School of Law, Coral Gables FL
33124 USA 1-305-284-4285 Please visit http://www.icannwatch.org ["Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law" via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 09]
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