"the school department had special software that allowed it to conduct criminal background checks and survey other personal information.... the department had obtained the software to help them track student gang activity"
And LOOK at what the "AUTHORITIES" DID WITH IT!!!
"School official quits amid snooping case; Lawrence police: Software misused" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | April 8, 2009
Yup, they CAN'T PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION, either, but they gotta crawl up our asses to spy on our communications -- for our own protection, of course!
Two former workers for the Lawrence school department are under investigation for conducting unauthorized background checks on more than 400 people, including local officials, professional athletes, Hollywood actors, and Governor Deval Patrick, police said.
Oh, THAT'S WHY it is a BIG DEAL!!
ELITERS GOT THEIR RIGHTS TRAMPLED ON!!!!
F*** YOU and ME, 'murkn!!!!
Police Chief John Romero said Mark Rivera, special assistant to Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy, and Harry Maldonado, a private investigator working for the school department, used LexisNexis software to do the searches during a 14-month period from 2007 into 2009.
"It was just amazing the number of people that were run," said Romero, who was one of the people checked. "It's a violation of city [policy] and a misuse of city resources."
Rivera submitted his resignation yesterday, Romero said. Rivera did not return phone calls.
Laboy also did not return several phone calls seeking comment on the issue, which has reignited controversy over his tenure as superintendent. Both Laboy and Rivera were at the center of a 2007 flap when Rivera drove Laboy to a meeting and barreled through the scene of a fire investigation. Rivera was ordered to pay a fine and attend a road rage program. Laboy, who had been criticized for purchasing special running boards for his city-subsidized sport utility vehicle at taxpayer expense, was chided for using Rivera as a chauffeur.
In recent weeks, additional problems surfaced when students were caught drinking alcohol during school hours and a 16-year-old at the International High School had to be hospitalized after she vomited in school.
See: Teachers Teach Students How to Conform
The teachers' union issued a 'no-confidence' vote in Terika Smith, the school's principal, whom Laboy hired. The union vote was then condemned by a coalition of school principals last week, who defended Laboy and questioned whether Smith was being targeted because she is black.
Gregory W. Morris, vice chairman of the School Committee, yesterday called the latest episode involving the unauthorized background checks "a big slap in the face for the whole committee."
"I know the community is absolutely up in arms over this," Morris said yesterday. "There have been calls to suspend [Laboy] and to fire him, and I've talked to a lot of people. . . . These last six, seven weeks have been out of control, one thing after another."
Morris said he did not know until this week that the school department had special software that allowed it to conduct criminal background checks and survey other personal information. Morris said Laboy told School Committee members that the department had obtained the software to help them track student gang activity.
"I don't think anybody knew what this program is and how they were using it," he said.
Rivera's searches, which greatly outnumbered Maldonado's, included reviews of personal information for the Red Sox's David Ortiz and actors Michael Chiklis of the TV show "The Shield" and Hugh Laurie, star of "House," police said. State Representative Barry Finegold, Mayor Michael Sullivan of Lawrence, and former Globe reporter Russell Contreras also were vetted. A full list of names was posted online Monday by the Lawrence Eagle-
How does it feel? Can we call a halt to the totalitarian tyranny now?
LexisNexis offers a variety of computer search engines that allow customers to comb various databases for information for a monthly fee. Company officials declined to comment, issuing a statement through a public relations firm that said "LexisNexis customers are credentialed prior to receiving access to sensitive information pursuant to applicable laws, regulation and LexisNexis policy."
Two company employees who did not want to be identified said LexisNexis offers the credentials to customers after conducting its own security check. Romero said Maldonado, a former Lawrence police officer hired this year to help the schools deal with security issues, tipped off police to Rivera's searches. Maldonado, who also quit, could not be reached yesterday.
In some cases, both Rivera and Maldonado used Social Security numbers to obtain information, Romero said. In other instances, the information they received contained people's Social Security numbers. Romero encouraged everyone on the list to check with their credit bureaus and review their accounts. Romero said yesterday that he has no reports that the information had been used illegally.
Yeah, they were just looking.
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