Diebold left private information on 310,000 Texans on the Internet

[BevHarris]

http://www.blackboxvoting.com - Chapter 7

(Note to anyone who downloaded it before Sunday night -- the file corrupted, missing some text and making a general mess of things -- this is simplified and has removed a couple graphics and downloads cleaner. The images print cleanly, though screen resolution is weak.

Due to the Diebold FTP site, I now know that Bob L. of Plano is a Republican and likes to vote early and is about the same age as his wife. But does Bob know that Diebold left his undies out for all to see?

Info on the site was for 95,000 private individuals in Plano and a couple hundred thousand more in Dallas, Richardson, McKinney, Wylie and thereabouts.

It included first, middle and last name, birthdate, apartment number, school district, voting preferences...everything an identity thief needs to nab your SS# and start running up credit card bills in your name.

"We protect the Hope Diamond, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Now we protect your vote." -- Diebold CEO Wally O'Dell

Great. But you're mighty cavalier about protecting the privacy of 310,000 private citizens in Texas.

Bev

REMINDER: Vote Report site going live at 6:00 California time (9:00 Eastern) tonight -- live, real-time reporting of voting experiences, and a media arm to contact camera crews if warranted. It will go live at this address: http://www.BBVreports.org -- that's BBVreports.org

[realFedUp]

1. kick

I heard Bev, you'll be on KPFK's Digital Village this
coming Saturday...make sure you announce closer to the
day.

[BevHarris]

35. OOPS - CORRECT WEB ADDRESS BBVreport.org

There is no "s" on report

To report or comment on your voting experience tomorrow (on any kind of voting machine, not just touch screen) go to the live, real-time forum at http://www.BBVreport.org

Goes live at 6 p.m. Pacific time (9 p.m. Eastern)

[jamesinca]

2. I will let you know if anything happens and thanks for the update

Bev-
My brother wil be running a voting place out of his garage tommorrow. I plan on going over a lot during the day to see how things are going. I will definately let you know if anything is going on that is noteworthy here in CA.

James in CA

[donsu]

3. kick

nt

[Andy_Stephenson]

4. Bev check your PM's

I just sent you one.

[Kusala]

5. Of course, what isn't a surprise,

is a republican in Plano.

[Andy_Stephenson]

6. No Kidding...

they even have a freeway named GW Bush. :puke:

[Kusala]

20. correction: it's a tollway

You get to pay for the priveledge of driving down it. And unfortunately it's the only easy way, north of dallas, to get from west to east or east to west.

[zbdent]

7. Hmm, I wonder how many of these people would be interested

in knowing their social security number (if available), their unlisted address, their habits?

I would suggest sending anonymous letters (with Diebold's return address) to their neighbors. Would be fun to have a few people come to them saying "Hi, this was in our mail. Addressed to us, but it's really for you."

[BevHarris]

8. We actually thought about doing a web site:

Was your private information listed on the Diebold web site?

And having people able to log into the database to see if they find themselves in the list. However, this is not feasible due to the very same privacy concerns I mentioned. Even if the person has to supply their own name to go look, I'm envisioning some stalker or abusive ex entering the name and finding out where their victim lives. Not good.

We also thought about a postcard mailing -- "Hi. Your private information was posted on the Diebold FTP site for anyone to see. For more information, download Chapter 7 at BlackBoxVoting.com"

But we've been a little busy and haven't done that either.

Bev

[Kusala]

21. You'ld probably get quicker results

by contacting the local news organizations here in Dallas to run an "investigative" report.

They'd love the sensationalism of yet another scare. "IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?" Of course, they'd probably manage to do it without even mentioning black box voting or Diebold, knowing how the media is.

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

9. for shame

It strikes me as at least mildly hypocritical that on your now-defunct web site you had a link directing people to a page containing names, photographs and home phone numbers for a bunch of Diebold employees, in addition to the usual claims that some or all of these people are shady, illegal immigrant, vote-rigging felons out to subvert democracy.

Were readers supposed to call these people up at home and harass them for their alleged crimes? Threaten them? Diebold left a file on an insecure FTP server. That poses a privacy problem for the people on the Texas list... but while it doesn't mitigate the seriousness of the issue, it smacks only of carelessness on somebody's part.

On your site, however, the (indirect) publicizing of people's personal information was both intentional and malicious, and no less serious for having fewer names. Shame on you for such blatant hypocrisy.

Also, the theft of a voter registration database from an insecure FTP site has nothing to do with the security of voting on DRE machines, it's an entirely different issue as you're surely aware.

JC

[htuttle]

10. Oh, bull

That's analogous to saying that just because someone has numerous DWI citations on their driver's license, that they could still be a safe school bus driver, since 'that's different'.

[BevHarris]

11. A link to an unrelated site had that, posted to the forum

when the site went down. I did not approve that post, and felt it was inappropriate. I emailed and told them to remove it. Jim March had the information on his site too, and I emailed him that he should remove it.

However, it is a little different -- though I still object -- I think there is nothing wrong with posting executives and stockholders information. I objected to the techs being posted.

This was about 24 people who work for Diebold, as I recall. Not quite the same as 310,000 people who had nothing to do with anything.

[Kelvin Mace]

12. Also, what the hell were they doing with

the information in the first place?

David Allen
Plan Nine Publishing
www.plan9.org
www.blackboxvoting.com

Diebold Voting Machines
We vote for you, so you don't have to!

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

13. good question....here's another

Better question: what is Bev doing with it now (besides her stated contemplation of invading these people's privacy with a mass-marketing direct mail campaign to advertise her book)?

JC

[Kelvin Mace]

16. What a piece of work you are.

We are doing nothing with the info. For you to even imply otherwise is to show your true colors.

You will do anything, say anything to discredit the work we are doing. You do so safely behind a psuedonym, operating in the shadows, your agenda safely proteced. We operate in the open, using our real names, with people able to contact us and vette our findings.

I challenge you yet again, sir. If you wish to be a credible critic, come out of the shadows and tell us who you are. Otherwise, people can draw their own conculsions as to your motivations.

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

19. ?

Sir, I refer you to Bev Harris' reply #8 on this thread in which she states that she's considered a postcard mailing to everyone on the list, directing them to your web site to download her book. Did I misinterpret?

JC

[Kelvin Mace]

27. It's called humor...

But, let's assume for a second it was for real.

Let's see. we are going to spend $71,300 dollars to send postcards to 310,000 Texans to make them aware of a free book that explains how we came into possession of their names and addresses.

Oops, I forgot the cost of the postcards and the labor to address them, which by my reckoning comes to another $31,000, thus a grand total of $102,000.

Hmmm... a hundred grand for $0 return. That makes sense. With that logic I am a cert for the next chief programming job at Diebold.

David Allen
Plan Nine Publishing
www.plan9.org
www.blackboxvoting.com

Diebold Voting Machines
We vote for you, so you don't have to!

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

28. Humor...

Well that clears things up considerably. In the future, could you be so kind as to point out which of Ms. Harris' statements are made for purely humorous intent and which ones are supposed to be serious? It's often hard to tell the difference.

JC

[Kelvin Mace]

30. Seems you are not interested in addressing the issues

1) We have nothing to gain by doing what you insinuate, but we do stand to lose $102,000.

2) You hide in the shadows and smear with no fear of accountability.

3) You downplay (and mostly ignore) Diebold's blatantly unethical and illegal conduct, yet dwell on smearing people who operate in public, in the bright light of day.


David Allen
Plan Nine Publishing
www.plan9.org
www.blackboxvoting.com

Diebold, Inc.
Makers of voting stations with an unprecedented level of crappy security!

[Kelvin Mace]

39. I notice, that when things don't go well for this fellow,

he get's quiet.

David

Diebold AccuVote Ingredients

Taxpayer money.................$5000
Security Flaws...................328
Critical Security Flaws.........26
CEO commitments to
deliver election to GOP.........1
Tamper-proof Paper ballots...0
Tamper-friendly digital
ballots..............................At least 32MB
Your actual vote................None of your business.

[angka]

41. i hope he realizes

that it's company policy to clock out at break times.

[Kelvin Mace]

43. LOL!

Careful, people get their posts yanked for suggesting that. I was formally warned not to make such speculations.

David Allen
www.plan9.org

Diebold Voting Machines
We vote for you, so you don't have to!

[TinfoilHatProgrammer]

44. interesting theory

That, or I don't have a job that affords me the opportunity to surf the web all day.

Also your interpretation of whether things are going well for me on this thread is laughable. Bev made a very specific, very disturbing claim that she was going to further invade the privacy of 310,000 people for book publicity. When I asked about it, both you and Pat claimed I was smearing her good name and that she'd never said any such thing. I pointed you to the post on this very thread where she said exactly what I asked about; you immediately backtracked to say that she was joking and that her statement was clearly absurd on the grounds that it makes no sense to spend money on marketing a "book" that's not actually for sale. Bev simply agreed that her statement was absurd, for the same reason. You then declared some sort of idiotic victory. It's all so formulaic and tiresome.

The underlying point remains the same as it did much earlier today. Someone at Diebold seems to have been careless with what seems to be some kind of voter registration data, and it's fine to criticize them for that (although it still has nothing to do with the reliability or security of their voting equipment, or their ATM equipment, or their vault door products, or anything else). Bev Harris ran a web site that pointed people to a list of Diebold employees, along with corresponding photographs and home phone numbers, and provided a forum in which people mocked their appearance, slandered them as criminals, and more. What was discussed in the secret planning forums? Bev occasionally claims to fear for her safety over the self-described immensity of her BBV revelations. That's funny. Do you suppose the people whose names and phone numbers she helped publicize to a bunch of rabid conspiracy theorists and at least one concealed weapon-carrying fanatic (among various other normal, reasonable people) fear any less for their safety? While she seems to admit (on this thread, even) that it was wrong, she seems to make the completely untenable point that it's not so bad because it was only around "24 people". Moreover, she never took steps (aside from a single email request) to remove the link or its associated commentary on her forum even though it was her site and she had ultimate control over its contents. Diebold was careless with their FTP site, as has been established many times over. Bev and certain people on her site were intentionally malicious.

This isn't even about "black box voting" any more, it's a personal publicity campaign. A voter list on an FTP site has nothing to do with the reliability or security of a voting machine product, it's just an excuse to post yet another tiresome variation of "hey I downloaded some files off the internet". Publicizing the personal information of a bunch of almost certainly innocent Diebold employees and a forum for slandering them contributes nothing to your BBV cause, and is simply malicious and mean-spirited.


On a completely unrelated topic, I will point out yet again that your claim of "328 critical security flaws" in the post above is totally incorrect. There were 328 issues raised in the SAIC report, less than 10% of which were classified as "critical", according to links that have been posted here on the topic (I believe 26 was the actual number, although I admit I may be off by a couple). Of the 328 reported issues, the vast majority referred to matters of election protocol and procedure in the state of Maryland, not software defects in the Diebold system. Since I've pointed this out now on numerous occasions, it's no longer conceivable that the bogus claim just continued misinterpretation on your part. Let the campaign of directed misinformation continue.

JC

[BevHarris]

29. LOL -- but you forgot to add

we are going to spend $102,000 for a possible return of $0 to notify them of something they are going to see in the news soon anyway

Tinfoil, again, thank you for playing -- you always help kick these threads to the top so a maximum number of people can see our work and the groupie who follows us around.

Bev

[Kelvin Mace]

17. Oh, and since you are ignoring the point

in order to try and slander Bev yet again. The book is available for free to anyone who wants it. We have dispensed with the profit motive you keep claiming we have.

David Allen
Plan Nine Publishing
www.plan9.org
www.blackboxvoting.com

Diebold Voting Machines
We vote for you, so you don't have to!

[ParanoidPat]

25. Do you have a link to where Bev said ANYTHING about.....

.....mass marketing her book? :shrug:

Or are you just talking out your :tinfoilhat: again? :evilgrin:

[JetJaguar]

24. Shades of Graye

and comic book villains.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/columns/article.jsp?content=20030929_55680_55680

[BevHarris]

31. Excellent catch, and thank you! Read this, folks:

used $300,000 of investors' money to post bail for Vancouver businessman Michael Graye, who had been arrested for alleged money-laundering and tax-evasion charges in an unrelated matter. Graye was sentenced to four years in jail.

Graye's sidekick and business partner: Charles Hong Lee, who for many years was an executive with Global Election Systems (purchased by Diebold Jan 2002)-- Graye and Lee were also involved in the "Vancouver Maneuver" with Global Election Systems parent companies North American Professional Technologies and MacroTrends International Ventures, and were both involved in a scandal with Vinex Wines.

This is not an "old and out of date thing" as I'm sure Diebold will claim when the seamy history of Global Election Systems comes out. Talbot Iredale, who is still the Vice President of Research & Development for Diebold Election Systems, was running the programming for many years while Charles Hong Lee was an exec. Iredale was also a stockholder, as was Ian Piper (who is mentioned in the Rob Georgia interview -- Piper's employment overlaps with the Vancouver Manuever guys. He was one of the ones involved in the Georgia patch fiasco. Guy Lancaster, who's done most of the Diebold optical scan programming, is also from that era.

Bev

[VelmaD]

14. My family is from that area...

and so am I originally. I'd love to know if Greenville was included in the information 'cause then I might have some standing to sue if it ever comes to that.

DV

[Eloriel]

15. Whoaaa - Dynamite chapter, Bev

I'm tempted to call Kathy Rogers, Michael Barnes, and maybe even Gov. Perdue and tell them to get busy reading this thing.

How many chapters in all?

Eloriel

[BevHarris]

32. Fourteen. But we have material for more, and

due to the way we are publishing this, can incorporate new stuff up to the very end.

And some "new stuff" just came my way today <grin>

Thanks,

Bev

[kayell]

18. Diebold "protects" the Constitution?!!

We're doomed.

"We protect the Hope Diamond, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Now we protect your vote." -- Diebold CEO Wally O'Dell

[Eloriel]

22. Actually,

I find it interesting to watch the symbolism (and sometimes "omens" inherent in them). Isn't it just too rich that Diebold, a corporation, now holds in its possession the most important document defining our democracy?

Very telling.

Eloriel

[Spazito]

38. It looks like he has farmed out protection of the Constitution to....

some sleazy Canadians! ( I am a proud Canadian and would want these sleazes put out of business on both sides of the border)

[Woodstock]

23. Sorry, I think I got the answer

Great job, Bev, I'm trying in my small way to get the word out of what you have uncovered.

[Skittles]

26. I live in Plano

it f***ing sucks here

[BevHarris]

33. Skittles -- PM me with your name I'll tell you if you were on that lis

Entirely voluntary and I, unlike Diebold, will keep your information 100% confidential. I'll shoot you back a PM that tells if you were on the list on the FTP site and what information they had on you.

Bev

[BevHarris]

48. I am happy to announce that Skittles was NOT on the Diebold FTP

Only 95,000 other people from Plano. Not Skittles.

Bev

[Capn Sunshine]

34. YOU DO!! NO WONDER

you're so cranky!!!!

just kidding.
Love you :loveya:
mean it.

[Skittles]

42. yeah

it freaking sucks.

[juajen]

36. So glad you have this site up and running for election tonight

:kick:

[harmonyguy]

37. 310,000 Texans info on the net

After the ruckus of Tuesday dies down, maybe it would be worthwhile approaching a couple of the more notable looking names on the list and seeing how they feel about having their info public.

In particular, there's a couple who's names are George and Laura that share the same address, who may not be too thrilled about having to share a name with a famous family, but may be less thrilled that their data is out there. (lines 167-168)

I wonder if they're related?

HG

[4dog]

40. Very interesting. The all-innocent Diebold strikes again.

[Generic Other]

45. Why didn't they post the ATM pin numbers, too?

This company is so inept at basic security!

Let's hope those files weren't downloaded and sold to every identity thief in the world!

[TacticalPeek]

46. Kicker.

:kick:

[shirlden]

47. Get up there

n/t

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Fridays Child]

49. Kicking...

:kick: