Apparently the Justice Department is protecting its data with a special, advanced form of protection. We've all heard of self-destructing messages, thanks to spy movies and novels. I read a while back about email technology which could do much the same thing. But until now, I was unaware that it was possible to safeguard large quantities of information in a database the same way. Apparently, if anyone attempts to download or copy the data contained therein, it will spectacularly destroy itself. It can even detect what kind of data query it should self-destruct in response to — the meltdown sequence is initiated by a Freedom of Information Act request.
McIntyre explained in a May 24 letter that the computer system - operated in the counterespionage section of the Justice Department's criminal division - "was not designed for mass export of all stored images" and said the system experiences "substantial problems."
"It sounds like incredible negligence for an agency that is keeping public records to keep them in such a precarious condition," said Stephen Doig, interim director at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. "I've never heard the excuse that making the equivalent of a backup copy would somehow cause steam to rise out of the computer."
Honestly. Fire them all? Get them a technology grant?
