Gov Patrick Makes ANOTHER Embarassing Misstep!

Gov blasted for listing addresses on Web site
By Casey Ross

Boston Herald Reporter
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - Updated: 12:33 PM EST

In yet another embarrassing misstep, Gov. Deval Patrick is under fire for launching a web site that includes a vast repository of sensitive information about private citizens, including home addresses that could be used to find people vulnerable to crime.
Patrick supporters who created the web site, DevalPatrick.com, agreed to limit address information available on the site yesterday after concerns were raised bySecretary of State William F. Galvin.
The site provides access to personal information through voter lists that include home addresses and other details.
"It has a lot of information that is not publicly available," Galvin said yesterday. "There were addresses available for people in domestic violence protection situations. We asked them to think about some of the implications of this."
A spokesman for Patrick's political committee, Steve Crawford, said all house and apartment numbers were removed from the site yesterday after Galvin contacted the committee. "We have taken that extra step to ensure peoples' privacy," spokesman Steve Crawford said. "We go further than any city or town to protect this information, which is in the public record."
However, Galvin said it took several phone calls from his office to prompt action from Patrick's supporters. "Initially they didn't seem to see the problem with it," he said. "But we were able to point out some of the concerns about domestic violence victims and elderly people."
Crawford denied that there was any such delay, saying, "As soon as these issues were raised, we made the change."
The site was launched by Patrick's supporters last weekend to trumpet the governor's policy goals and encourage public input, but concerns about the potential for misuse of the site arose almost immediately.
Before changes were made yesterday, anyone could have used it to find a voter's exact address or apartment number ?- information that Galvin said his office goes to great lengths to protect.
The information was accessible through a registration feature that relies on voter records. The feature works by matching a name a user types in with an address included in the voter records. Galvin said Patrick supporters did not get the voter list from him, and instead obtained it from a vendor called Sage Systems.
While such information is available in town halls, Galvin said the putting it online makes it too easy to retrieve and misuse for ill intent. He said his office requires groups who seek to obtain voter lists to sign a release to certifying that it won't be used for "commercial exploitation."
"There were also police officers home addresses on there, which is also protected information," Galvin said. "We're concerned this can have an impact on peoples' willingness to register to vote."

Boston Herald