What Does the Breach of Clinton, McCain, and Obama's Passport Files Tell Us?

Only last week we saw that some curious contractors of the State Department accessed the presidential candidates Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama's passport files. The unauthorized access took place multiple times since January of this year. Most likely, it was done for political reasons, though that has not been confirmed.

The contractors were working for the department. However, at no point were they granted permission to go through the files of the consular section. That leaves us with the same sense of insecurity that has been haunting us in the post 9/11 era. This is exactly what the politicians have been capitalizing on throughout the decade. So, the question is, after all this political bickering, huge expenditure on security measures and global fighting are we better off now than we were before? If it can be so easy for the State department contractors to be just curious and peek at confidential files, how impossible will it be for the organized terrorists to put their hands on sensitive information?

In 1992, when Bill Clinton was running a campaign against President George H.W. Bush (Bush Sr.), the same thing had happened. A Republican appointee tried to dig out information from the 1960s. It was about the unfounded rumors that Bill Clinton attempted to dodge the draft for the Vietnam War by renouncing his citizenship while a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Therefore, we can see that the same type of security breach was present before 9/11 and even after more than 6 years of escalated panic, mistrust and high level of scrutiny, the same problems still exist. Easy breach of confidentiality was alarming then, and now that we have been made to believe that our safety has been the priority, the sense of insecurity has reached its peak.

While some are still satisfied with the current situation, some are saying otherwise. The major problem, however, is that the majority now do not know what to think. All of a sudden all the assurances and reassurances are not being perceived as convincing. Secretary Rice was quick to apologize and point out the security measure was effective to detect such breach fast. However, wasn't the claim before was that at no cost would the security be compromised and nobody could access sensitive information? Why are we on the defensive now to acknowledge the problem and consoling ourselves that at least we caught it quick?

The general publics are concerned with other things also. This occurrence at the State Department has reignited the fear that has been lingering. When the government itself cannot guarantee the protection of crucial information, how can there be reliance that the measures taken until today is adequate to prevent identity theft? In fact, it has been a growing concern and this incident did not help in any way.

It is time that we rethink our policies and take steps to protect the citizens' confidentiality.