# 10,000 government email addresses in Ashley Madison list **URL:** \ **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:** 3
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/41 "2015-08-20T21:46:55Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I don’t think anyone here is going to say that this guy deserves whatever he gets. I didn’t think my faith in humanity could dip much lower, but the overwhelming support I’m seeing for the comeuppance generated by this hack sickens me. Really, how could anyone with a lick of common sense assume that kind if thing is _not_ going to happen? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/42 "2015-08-20T22:39:34Z")
I wonder how many ‘Impact Team’ operatives redacted their own information before it was released to the public? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/43 "2015-08-20T23:39:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Except for Josh Duggar. Because fuck that guy. I agree with you whole heartedly. Here is a man that traded in hypocrisy by condemning others for actions that he himself was doing in secret. As the executive director of the Family Research Council (recognized as a hate group by the SPLC I note), he trumpeted family values and condemned homosexuality, abortion, divorce, and sodomy as threats to our traditional family structure. At the same time he was making hundreds of thousands of dollars and demonstrating family values by fucking around on his wife. He, personally, lobbied to limit the rights of many people who have certainly _demonstrated_ more support for stable marriages and family values than he ever did while at the same time he was trolling the internet for anonymous sex partners and trying to dodge responsibility for the fact he molested his sisters when they were children. I admit that I am unsure if he has publicly condemned child molestation, incest, or adultery, but the fact that he was raking in money with both hands while condemning others for actions that (IMHO) pale in comparison with his own makes him a hypocrite of the worst stripe. So, fuck that guy, he should reap what he has sown. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/44 "2015-08-20T23:43:19Z")
> [@CinnamonBabka](#): > > Really, how could anyone with a lick of common sense assume that kind if thing is _not_ going to happen? Why would you assume it _would_ happen? It is a service that explicitly does not cater to his needs - it is a service for heterosexual cheaters only. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/45 "2015-08-20T23:51:35Z")
…the media in its glee to point and laugh at other people seem to be forgetting a very important fact: > [@](#): > > But the email database is questionable. Understanding its members’ needs for privacy, Ashley Madison did not require an email to be confirmed before the account could be used, leading to some members signing up with obviously false emails (such as “tblair@labour.gov.uk”, an address that doesn’t exist), and others gave emails that weren’t their own, such as the multiple accounts created with “steve@apple.com”. > **[Ashley Madison hack: your questions answered](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/20/ashley-madison-hack-your-questions-answered)** > > What happened, why hackers were able to steal the data and what can you do if your details appear online > [@](#): > > Readers should understand that if this dump does turn out to be legit, that just finding someone’s name, email address and other data in the archives doesn’t mean that person was a real user. As the above-mentioned Graham Cluley points out, AshleyMadison never bothered to verify the email addresses given to it by its users. > > “So, I could have created an account at Ashley Madison with the address of [barack.obama@whitehouse.gov](mailto:barack.obama@whitehouse.gov), but it wouldn’t have meant that Obama was a user of the site,” Cluley wrote. “Journalists and commentators would be wise to remember that the credentials stored by Ashley Madison must be considered suspect because of their shonky practices, even before you start considering whether any leaked databases are falsified or not.” > **[Was the Ashley Madison Database Leaked? – Krebs on Security](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/was-the-ashley-madison-database-leaked/)** > > Many news sites and blogs are reporting that the data stolen last month from 37 million users of AshleyMadison.com -- a site that facilitates cheating and extramarital affairs -- has finally been posted online for the world to see. In… The reality is that we don’t know how many of these email addresses are real and how many are fake. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/46 "2015-08-20T23:51:58Z")
Only 4000 belonged to Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/47 "2015-08-21T00:03:19Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > The reality is that we don’t know how many of these email addresses are real and how many are fake. The leaked data also contains credit card transaction information. People simply browsing the site might have used any email address, but those paying for memberships used real credit cards with their real names and street addresses. I would wager that at least some number of the .gov addresses in the database will be linked to credit card transactions. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/48 "2015-08-21T00:07:25Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The leaked data also contains credit card transaction information. People simply browsing the site might have used any email address, but those paying for memberships used real credit cards with their real names and street addresses. I would wager that at least some number of the .gov addresses in the database will be linked to credit card transactions. …well when you’ve finished linking those credit card details to some number of .gov addresses then we will have something to talk about. But you haven’t, and no-one else has, so lets stop pretending we know how many government employees and contractors were members of the site when the reality is we don’t have a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/49 "2015-08-21T00:15:26Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …well when you’ve finished linking those credit card details to some number of .gov addresses then we will have something to talk about. But you haven’t, and no-one else has, so lets stop pretending we know how many government employees and contractors were members of the site when the reality is we don’t have a clue. I said: > [@What is the word for subconscious borrowing of a pre-existing melody?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-word-for-subconscious-borrowing-of-a-pre-existing-melody/95570/6): > > I would wager that at least some number of the .gov addresses in the database will be linked to credit card transactions. Not sure how you’re taking that to mean that I’m pretending to know how many, but I guarantee there will be some. Maybe including yours dickface. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/50 "2015-08-21T00:42:46Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I said: > > Not sure how you’re taking that to mean that I’m pretending to know how many, but I guarantee there will be some. Maybe including yours dickface. …who the hell pissed in your cornflakes this morning? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/51 "2015-08-21T15:35:20Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Please have all the GOP candidates on there . . . > > Please oh please . . . Well, a GOP state executive director turned up. Fortunately, [he has a good excuse](http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/louisiana_gop_ashley_madison.html): > [@](#): > > Louisiana GOP executive director Jason Doré said Thursday that his name is on a list of accounts released as part of the Ashley Madison cheating website hack because the site was used for “opposition research.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/52 "2015-08-21T15:40:06Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Well, a GOP state executive director turned up. Fortunately, [he has a good excuse](http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/louisiana_gop_ashley_madison.html): > [@](#): > > The director of the statewide Republican Party said via text message that an account was created under his name and his former personal credit card billing address in connection with the work of his law firm, Doré Jeansonne. He declined to say who he was using the account for. And I’m sure he can produce the check stub showing he was reimbursed by his employer, right? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/53 "2015-08-21T15:52:51Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yes, but the key word in your sentence is “they,” meaning the people that you actually provide with your email address. > > The fact that you give them an email address so they can communicate with you does not mean that you consent to have that email address and all its associated personal details, including your membership of the site, made public for the world to see. > > By your logic, the fact that the IRS has my email address (i signed up so i can check my tax return status online) means that it’s OK for someone to post my SSN and all of my tax information for the world to see. You are missing the point: when you use an e-mail address _provided by your employer_, you have given up any expectation of privacy because your employer can always see what you’re doing (even if your employer does not forbid personal use of the account). I feel bad for people whose marriages are adversely affected by this leak, to the extent that any cheater is deserving of sympathy. I don’t feel bad for people whose jobs are affected. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/54 "2015-08-21T17:14:16Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Well, a GOP state executive director turned up. Fortunately, [he has a good excuse](http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/louisiana_gop_ashley_madison.html): He’s claiming that he only signed up to do “opposition research”. Is that seriously his excuse? Hahahaha [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ashley-madison-louisiana-gop-research](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ashley-madison-louisiana-gop-research) ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/55 "2015-08-21T19:40:02Z")
A lot, most perhaps, of those emails are fake. On the other hand I saw that Bill Clinton ([billclinton@whitehouse.gov](mailto:billclinton@whitehouse.gov)) had an account and that was totally believeable. The wifey also: [hildebeast@whitehouse.gov](mailto:hildebeast@whitehouse.gov). And 42 other current and previous occupants or the White House, including [president@whitehouse.gov](mailto:president@whitehouse.gov). But really, I thought that was what you had the Secret Service for. If the Secret Service cannot even get whores for the president - the most powerful man in the world - what good are they?! There’s also a lot of Brit government officials on the site. But you have to be 18 to sign up to AM and we all know those fuckers are only after underage boys, so totally fake there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/56 "2015-08-21T21:40:11Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > There’s also a lot of Brit government officials on the site. One MP’s so-called account has been [thoroughly debunked](http://order-order.com/2015/08/21/truth-about-mps-online-adultery-account/#:vgha20NF3fgqYA); I expect others to follow. AM required no verification, so it’s easy to sign up someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/57 "2015-08-22T00:02:36Z")
Unless these were verified accounts, I wouldn’t read anything into it. You, I, or anyone can go sign up on any website at any time with the email address [barack.obama@whitehouse.gov](mailto:barack.obama@whitehouse.gov). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/58 "2015-08-22T05:50:34Z")
For well known people, the obvious, and likely true, excuse is that someone else used their name and email. For some unknown Joe Blow, it seems a lot less likely that someone would use their name, so they may have trouble convincing their wife or employer of that. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/59 "2015-08-24T01:43:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is it? That would be unusual. Well, I work for one of the largest private (non-govt, publicly traded) companies in the world and our policy is very clear that some personal use of email is just fine, so long as it doesn’t interfere with work and stays within acceptable use policy (i.e., porn). So I don’t know if Ashley Madison would run afoul of that part of the policy, but I suspect that a single employee using it for online dating would be within the acceptable policy. FWIW, our policy is similar for internet usage. Ordering flowers for one’s mother is a given example of acceptable use. And the policy was the same at a different Fortune 50 company I used to work for. rightfully, they look at is as a whole- are you getting your work done, and are you doing anything that is inappropriate. It would certainly be within a company’s rights to forbid all non-work use, but in my experience that’s not the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340/60 "2015-08-24T03:14:35Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Governments cares, especially if you have a security clearance and could be blackmailed for espionage purposes. True enough, but somewhat bitterly amusing, too, given that the government itself gave up my security clearance file. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-government-email-addresses-in-ashley-madison-list/728340.md?page=4)