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Jeb Bush Publishes Thousands of Citizens' Email Addresses

Posted by timothy on from the public-records-now dept.

blottsie writes Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush hasn't even yet formally declared his desire to run for president in 2016, but he's already started what appears to be a major privacy blunder. His new project, the Jeb Emails, a massive, open database of correspondence to and from his jeb@jeb.org email address, publishes the full names, messages, and email addresses of his constituents who emailed him during his eight years in office.

9 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. Oops! by riverat1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not a good start.

    1. Re:Oops! by jriding · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am not a fan of the current republicans but I don't see how this is a bad thing. He is in public office. Any communication involving his position should be available by FOIA. So how is this bad again?

      At least we can see when he says "hey shut down that bridge in NJ" or "I will let you write the law and I will say I wrote it if you pay me $25,000"

      --
      love the taste, hate the texture
    2. Re:Oops! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Show me a Republican who doesn't spend, spend, spend and I'll show you a unicorn. Oh you mean *this* time they really mean it? GOP voters have Stockholm syndrome. Not only does the GOP spend, the reasoning they give for cutting spending is all wrong. You don't run a business like a household and you certainly don't run a nation like one. That's a line for fools.

      Spending actually boosts the economy, not that the GOP voters would know any better. Spend when depressed, raise taxes during the boom. If you are business and your sales are down, you spend on advertising, R&D or whatever it takes to get income up. You certainly don't spend less. I mean you could, but you won't be around for long.

      Besides, why do you think China is such a powerhouse? The government subsidizes it's industry, among other things. It's certainly not because they're laissez faire.

      Where do I stand? Until things get better, I'm voting out the incumbent in every seat, in every election.

    3. Re:Oops! by Nethead · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So the assumed front runner for the Democrats isn't credible when speaking about foreign policy? Not saying she's the best for the job, and you may not agree with her policy ideas, but her being a First Lady, a Senator, and a Secretary of State, you have to give her some foreign policy chops. Much more than any state governor may have.

      I will give Jeb some chops just for hanging with dad and W, but not much.

      --
      -- I have a private email server in my basement.
  2. not to defend this but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you're sending an email to the government and expect it not to be subject to foia, maybe you should think again.

    This disclosure appears in his signature on most of the messages I looked at...

    Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law.
    Most written communications to or from state officials
    regarding state business are public records available to the
    public and media upon request. Your e-mail communications
    may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

  3. It Get's Worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Update in the article:

    The Verge has uncovered emails that contain Social Security numbers, home addresses, and other personal information from Floridians.

  4. Re:Testing to see if slashdot is really working by Soulskill · · Score: 4, Informative

    We were in read-only mode most of the day while some server issues were fixed. Sorry for the downtime!

  5. Re:Testing to see if slashdot is really working by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    You ruined my workday. I had nothing to do but *shudder* work all day.

  6. Re:Holy shit is it over already? Isn't this ILLEGA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's Florida. All metadata is automatically considered public record, and contents are also public record if they bear on a state official's duties. Jeb was a state official (governor), so his e-mails are all automatically public record.

    It's not a mistake, and it's not illegal: in Florida, public officials have no privacy on anything that pertains to their job. Every state official's salary, from the janitors' to the governor's, is listed in a giant, public-facing database, searchable by employee name. Colleges have a separate excel sheet, with salaries listed by name. The stuff you think people would want to keep quiet: in Florida, it's public. It's called the Sunshine Law.

    Governor's e-mails? Of course that shit's public.