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Help me trace the Obama passport breach. UPDATE

Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 06:30:12 PM PDT

The leak came from the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which consists of the following sublevels (source of chart):

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Initial Google searches make me think Stanley Associates of Arlington, Virginia could be the contractor in question (also found this source), but I'd really like to nail it down and find out who is responsible, because the press is not reporting this information yet (and I'm wondering if the State Department won't be as forthcoming as we'd like them to be).

UPDATE: MSNBC confirms that it was indeed Stanley Associates.

Another company, MBR Computer Consultants, was awarded a one-year contract in May 2006 to deal with monitoring systems at Consular Affairs, but I don't know if they still have/had a contract, or if they were involved with or had access to records.

If someone can do a better job of digging than I can, please help me out here.

It may very well be that within a matter of hours this information will come out from traditional news sources; on the other hand, the specifics may not reach the light of day as we are dealing with the Bush administration here!

I may not be posting more soon, depends on what I can dig up, but wanted to ask for anyone else who is interested to post their thoughts/research information here.

UPDATE

In case you were wondering what is in a passport record:

The passport records system includes the following categories of records:

    Passport books and passport cards, applications for passport books and passport cards, and applications for additional visa pages, amendments, extensions, replacements, and/or renewals of passport books or cards (including all information and materials submitted as part of or with all such applications);

    Applications for registration at American Diplomatic and Consular Posts as U.S. citizens or for issuance of Cards of Identity and Registration as U.S. Citizens;

    Consular Reports of Birth Abroad of United States citizens;

    Certificates of Witness to Marriage;

    Certificates of Loss of United States Nationality;

    Oaths of Repatriation;

    Consular Certificates of Repatriation;

    Reports of Death of an American Citizen Abroad;

    Cards of Identity and Registration as U.S. citizens;

    Lookout files which identify those persons whose
applications for a consular or related service require other than
routine examination or action; and

    Miscellaneous materials, which are documents and/or
records maintained separately, if not in the application, including but
not limited to the following types of documents:

   [cir] Investigatory reports compiled in connection with granting or
denying passport and related services or prosecuting violations of
passport criminal statutes;

   [cir] Transcripts and opinions on administrative hearings, appeals
and civil actions in federal courts;

   [cir] Legal briefs, memoranda, judicial orders and opinions arising
from administrative determinations relating to passports and
citizenship;

   [cir] Birth and baptismal certificates;

   [cir] Court orders;

   [cir] Arrest warrants;

   [cir] Medical, personal and financial reports;

   [cir] Affidavits;

   [cir] Inter-agency and intra-agency memoranda, telegrams, letters,
and other miscellaneous correspondence;

   [cir] An electronic index of all passport application records
created since 1978, and some passport application records created
between 1962 and 1978;

   [cir] An electronic index of Department of State Reports of Birth
of American Citizens abroad; and/or

   [cir] Records of lost and stolen passports.

Tags: State Department, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Passport Services, Stanley Associates, Barack Obama, passport, security breach (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

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