# 10,000 government email addresses in Ashley Madison list
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 20, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340 "2015-08-20T13:04:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/1 "2015-08-20T13:04:22Z")
[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/19/ashley-madison-hack-identities-of-33-million-aspiring-adulterers-released-online.html](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/19/ashley-madison-hack-identities-of-33-million-aspiring-adulterers-released-online.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Stolen data from the Ashley Madison infidelity dating site includes approximately 10,000 email addresses belonging to government officials or workers with .gov addresses. The Daily Beast reviewed the files and found accounts linked to the email addresses of members of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as numerous officials from the Australian and British governments. The Daily Beast, however, cannot verify the authenticity of all the accounts yet.
The headline says government officials but that’s misleading since they’re just .gov addresses and it’s likely that all or most are just workers as opposed to “officials”.
Who the hell uses a work email address for something like this? I would never use a work address for anything personal, even something innocent, but what kind of moron uses it to look for an extramarital affair?
This is what gmail is for people! Gmail and a prepaid debit card. How fucking stupid are you?
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### Author:  [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/2 "2015-08-20T13:15:09Z")
Pretty fucking stupid, apparently.
But, among the older generations, there seem to be a lot of people that got their first and only email account from their ISP, and treat it like their physical mailbox. Everyone in the household uses it, and any privacy between household members is purely a matter of personal courtesy.
They try to sign up for some private hijinks, need to provide and email address, realize they shouldn’t use the account their spouse reads, and remember they have another email address…
That said, aside from embarrassing breaches like this, are there normally any consequences from using their work email for something like this? I doubt the IT is reading all emails to reprimand people that may be getting inappropriately friendly with someone that isn’t their spouse. They only care if HR tells them to care because there are complaints about someone who is exchanging dirty pictures in plain view of the whole office.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/3 "2015-08-20T13:15:48Z")
“Officials” is not an incorrect use of the term as it pertains to any government worker. One definition is any holder of appointed or elected office, or a position of public trust.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/4 "2015-08-20T13:22:42Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> “Officials” is not an incorrect use of the term as it pertains to any government worker. One definition is any holder of appointed or elected office, or a position of public trust.
Sure, but it’s misleading. Most people wouldn’t consider the mailroom guy at the EPA to be a government official. (That’s just an example, I have no knowledge about any government mailroom workers.)
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/5 "2015-08-20T13:28:29Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> Sure, but it’s misleading. Most people wouldn’t consider the mailroom guy at the EPA to be a government official. (That’s just an example, I have no knowledge about any government mailroom workers.)
He sure would. Let’s see you try to get an over-weight envelope past him.
Hell, I have a .gov address, and I’m just a contractor.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/6 "2015-08-20T13:42:20Z")
Plano investigating city employees after e-mail addresses found in hacked Ashley Madison data
[http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20150820-nbc5-plano-investigating-city-employees-after-e-mail-addresses-found-in-hacked-ashley-madison-data.ece](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20150820-nbc5-plano-investigating-city-employees-after-e-mail-addresses-found-in-hacked-ashley-madison-data.ece)
> [@](#):
>
> The city of Plano said it is investigating at least two employees after their city email addresses appeared on a list linked to a website for cheaters.
We laugh at this, but people may be losing jobs, not to mention marriages. I’m thinking that there are some very desperate people out there right now. We may even see suicides. We probably should be pitting the hackers more than the fools on this list.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/7 "2015-08-20T13:52:37Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> Plano investigating city employees after e-mail addresses found in hacked Ashley Madison data
> [http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20150820-nbc5-plano-investigating-city-employees-after-e-mail-addresses-found-in-hacked-ashley-madison-data.ece](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20150820-nbc5-plano-investigating-city-employees-after-e-mail-addresses-found-in-hacked-ashley-madison-data.ece)
> We laugh at this, but people may be losing jobs, not to mention marriages. I’m thinking that there are some very desperate people out there right now. We may even see suicides. We probably should be pitting the hackers more than the fools on this list.
Except for Josh Duggar. Because fuck that guy.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/8 "2015-08-20T13:54:03Z")
I don’t care much for the hackers, but any government worker (or private employee for that matter) dumb enough to sign up for a sex site using his/her official e-mail address is not entitled to any sympathy.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/9 "2015-08-20T13:56:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Except for Josh Duggar. Because fuck that guy.
Except for Josh Duggar, obviously. 😛
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### Author:  [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/10 "2015-08-20T14:01:43Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> …
> Who the hell uses a work email address for something like this? I would never use a work address for anything personal, even something innocent, but what kind of moron uses it to look for an extramarital affair?
>
> …
I don’t disagree about them being morons, but think about it…
Can they use their home computer?
Can they use their cell phone?
With the wife unit/home security expert having unlimited access to both of those, it probably seemed a far safer option to use the work media.
Yeah, using government media, on government time, for such a purpose ought to be grounds for discipline.
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### Author:  [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/11 "2015-08-20T14:05:21Z")
Please have all the GOP candidates on there . . .
Please oh please . . .
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/12 "2015-08-20T14:11:28Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#):
>
> I don’t disagree about them being morons, but think about it…
> Can they use their home computer?
> Can they use their cell phone?
> With the wife unit/home security expert having unlimited access to both of those, it probably seemed a far safer option to use the work media.
>
> Yeah, using government media, on government time, for such a purpose ought to be grounds for discipline.
They can get a freaking gmail address.
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### Author:  [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/13 "2015-08-20T14:15:07Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> They can get a freaking gmail address.
You’ve already established that they are morons. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/14 "2015-08-20T14:15:19Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> This is what gmail is for people! Gmail and a prepaid debit card. How fucking stupid are you?
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if at least one of them is so stupid that they’ve used their government travel credit card in connection with their extracurricular activities.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/15 "2015-08-20T14:19:33Z")
> [@Monty](#):
>
> I wouldn’t be surprised at all if at least one of them is so stupid that they’ve used their government travel credit card in connection with their extracurricular activities.
That revelation is probably coming soon.
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### Author:  [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/16 "2015-08-20T15:08:40Z")
Remember, kids, it’s OK to use unethical means to expose someone as long as you think what they’re doing is wrong.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/17 "2015-08-20T15:37:08Z")
Nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their work e-mail. For the record, I don’t think people who signed up for Ashley Madison have done anything wrong _per se_.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/18 "2015-08-20T15:56:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their work e-mail.
In the context of this conversation, that’s an incredibly silly comment.
What they have is a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information they provide in confidence. While they might not have an expectation of privacy in their email address, _ **per se** _, they do have a right to expect that when they provide an email address (_ **any** _ email address, work or otherwise) as part of membership in an online company, the information they provide will be kept in confidence.
I agree that anyone who used a work (especially a government) email address to join up with this site is an idiot, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve had their private details exposed through illegal behavior.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/19 "2015-08-20T16:04:19Z")
If providing an e-mail address was all they were doing, I would agree. But when you give a website your e-mail address it’s not just for funsies. It’s so they can communicate with you. I am not an A-M subscriber, so I can’t be certain, but every other website I’ve given my e-mail address to has sent me an account notification at the very least. Most of them continue to send me stuff afterwards, like password change notifications and the like. The point is that their privacy was already compromised long before this hack.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/20 "2015-08-20T16:21:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> Nobody has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their work e-mail. For the record, I don’t think people who signed up for Ashley Madison have done anything wrong _per se_.
But why does my company care if I am cheating on my spouse? Some personal use of the work email is kind of accepted, right? Say I am one of the people on that email list, and they investigate me and find, yes, I cheated, yes, I used my work email, but otherwise I am a damn fine worker and have given them no problems at work.
How is it my company’s business that I am adulterous?
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