Posted on 08/14/2009 8:47:56 AM PDT by nmh
...
The WH maintains a massive e-mail list as part of its effort to promote its position on pressing issues. On Thursday, senior adviser David Axelrod used the list to send out a "chain" e-mail asking supporters of health care reforms backed by the administration to forward his rebuttal to criticism circulating on Internet.
The mail offered reasons to support Obama's agenda and tried to debunk what the White House decries as myths in the health care debate.
...
But some people who received the e-mails directly from the White House forwarded them to FOX News and asked how they ended up on the list when they've never been in communication with the Obama administration. Some wondered if visiting the White House Web site automatically places them on an e-mail distribution list.
...
Asked whether the White House seeks other pieces of information to identify those who might be curious about health care even though they have never signed up for e-mails or visited the Web site, Gibbs said he would have to see the e-mails to know.
Pressed to explain why he couldn't answer, Gibbs said "Well, I hesitate to give you an answer because you might impugn the motives of the answer."
"Why would you say that?" Garrett asked incredulously.
"Because of the way you phrased your follow up. I'd have to look at what you got, Major. I appreciate the fact that I have omnipotent clarity as to what you've received in your e-mail box today," Gibbs said.
"You don't have to have omnipotent clarity. You don't have to impugn anything," Garrett fired back. "I'm telling you what I got: e-mails from people who said I never asked anything from the White House."
Ending the exchange, Gibbs said, "Let me go someplace else that might be constructive."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“Some of this is highly illegal. The WH is prohibited by law to create lists for any purpose!!!!!!! They can only respond to requests for info.”
Gibbs answered saying (not quote), “we answer them” (referring to e-mail in an oblique fashion. This site will need to consolidate activity relevant to this breaking news story, for the spokespersons answers will get ever more creative.
And then there is the just recently departed cyber czar, Melissa Hathaway. Wiki link;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hathaway
The issue regarding Personal Data Privacy is that you can only use the information for the purpose it was gathered. In the case of the White House website, they say that they are gathering the information to respond to queries about issues. That would make it legitimate to send issue emails to the people who agreed to have their emails recorded.This would also apply to emails from Congress being used by the White House. They are separate bodies established for different purposes. People who contact Congress are engaging their own representatives in the legislative process. The Executive Branch has nothing to do with that engagement with the people. If the White House is using a Congressional database of emails for Executive branch purposes, that would be a violation of personal data privacy.That said, it would be ILLEGAL to take a campaign database of emails and use it for White House government purposes, because those email addresses were captured for an entirely different purpose, and people presumably did not give their permission for the emails to be used for issue solicitation after the election. It would also be illegal to take a DNC database of emails and use it for White House purposes. It would also be illegal to take a union database of emails and use it for White House purposes.
-PJ
Bingo, PJ. Think I’ll sue.
The below is from the "Page Source" at State Your Support, near bottom. Posted without the < and > characters.
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Link to webtrendslive.com
Webtrends. Enterprise Customer Intelligence
Try reading FOX news on this issue ... .
Ms. Hathaway had initially been considered a leading contender to fill the cyber post permanently. She lost favor with the president’s economic team after she said it should consider options for regulating some private-sector entities to ensure they secure their networks, said cybersecurity specialists familiar with the discussions. Being a holdover from the Bush administration didn’t help either, they said.
In February, the White House tapped Ms. Hathaway, a senior intelligence official who had launched President George W. Bush’s cybersecurity initiative, to lead a 60-day cybersecurity policy review. Ms. Hathaway completed her review in April, but the White House spent another 60 days debating the wording of her report and how to structure the White House cyber post. National Economic Adviser Larry Summers argued forcefully that his team should have a say in the work of the new cyber official.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124932480886002237.html
As I understand it, the very issue is that it is coming from Axelrod as the head of a non-governmental organization apparently using the official government lists.
huh? You mean John Campbell (R)???
It doesn’t matter, R or D apparently they use the same servers/ Also, and this is a more snaky issue, but I do know of cases where known conservatives have “moles” on their staffs—think about it-a lot of staffers go all around the Hill working for whomever they can work for and they are not necessarily loyal to the congressperson. I personally know of one who was run off the staff of a very conservative House rep. once he was exposed.
Looks like you have everything well covered wabbitt!
I’m not a investigator type. I am a warrior. You tell me were the SOB’s are and I give them hell or die tryin.....LOL
Anyhoo......Looks like we have a situation brewing. I’ll be watchin it.....
You may question as to how I was able to ascertain your e-mail address and name, it is been given me by a trusted family advisor HONORABLE Rahm Emanuel, ESQUIRE, Barrister and Counsel. I am HIS EXCELLENCY Barack Hussein OBAMA, Junior, son of the late esteemed bureaucrat and Marxist Philosopher Barack Hussein OBAMA, Senior of Kenya. As I was elected PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES of AmeriKKKa in 2008, and was unfairly deposed on a technicality relating to my birth certificate and other minor issues in 2009. Whilst I was in the Executive palace, I was able to squirrel away several BILLIONS of USD, with the assistance of HONORABLE Timothy Giethner and my proud Princess and First Lady. What I propose is for you to forward, post haste, your banking and exchequer information to Mr. Barrister EMANUEL, in which we may deposit the profits from my short-lived REIGN, in exchange for, we will forward to you 1/20th of the FORTUNE, to the tune of $100 MILLION USD. Time is of the essence, as the newly installed PALIN administration is hot on our heels and we are also making ourselves scarce from Mr. Soros and his henchmen.
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