NY policeman plunders US terror watchlist
Cops to illegal access
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A New York City Police Department sergeant has admitted he illegally obtained a name contained in an FBI terrorist watchlist and gave it to an acquaintance to use in a child custody case.
Haytham Khalil, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge stemming from the unauthorized access and dissemination of information from the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The database contains information from the agency's terrorist screening center identifying individuals listed on a terrorist watchlist.
According to documents filed in federal court in Manhattan, Khalil lacked the authority to access the information, so he used a fellow cop's username and password to gain entry. Remarkably, the fellow officer left his credentials on a notepad so his co-workers could access the system when he wasn't around.
In December 2007, Khalil used his colleague's login credentials to access the NCIC database so he could obtain information identifying an unnamed person contained on the FBI terrorist watchlist. Khalil then turned the information over to an acquaintance who was locked in a child custody battle with the person. The acquaintance then turned the information over to an attorney to use it in a pending proceeding.
Khalil faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 or more at sentencing, which is scheduled for April 14.
The episode is exactly the kind of red meat that feeds critics of government watchlists, who say such databases are rife with potential for abuse. Law enforcement officials say such databases are carefully restricted, but as Khalil's guilty plea demonstrates, the measures can often be easily circumvented. ®
COMMENTS
Watch List Misuse Should Be An Offence
Proof that someone being added to a watch-list without extremely good information should be grounds for misuse of information & therefore a criminal offence. If someone can tarnish your career or for that matter any part of your life with absolutely no proof & just a mimicked name then the person(s) that added that name in the first place should be charged with a criminal offence.
Anyone accessing that information without proof of context should also be charged with a criminal offence. Anyone caught using this information in the manner that this information was used should be never be allowed to work in law enforcement because they obviously can't be trusted like most of the cops in the world. The criminal offence in this case should probably carry a minimum 10-year imprisonment & a substantial financial payout to the person that was incriminated by the information due to the character assassination that comes with the suggestion of mistrust.
something's rotten
(1) copper looks up info for fellow copper(?)...you obviously just come out of your cave if you don't understand that coppers ALWAYS look out for / cover up for / their fellow coppers.
(2) the watch list is most likely one of the most idiotic ideas ever thought up - very possibly unconstitutional...if there were NEED to keep a list...I suspect it would top out at around 1000 people...not a jillion...and with such detailed information NO ONE would ever be confused who wasn't specifically ON the list
(3) the copper leaving signon information laying around needs to be fired
(4) the one making unauthorized look-ups needs to be jailed
(5) the database needs an audit trail and to be audited for access to verify who and why
another fail for human rights
At least this one's not for the kids....
So what's the actual purpose of this database then? Because surely this one isn't 'for the kids', is it? I mean, as the awe-inspiring overlords, would you want kids being indoctrinated by terrs if you could prevent it?
Ah, maybe I should have shut up. They probably already do that in the penny-happy interfere for no reason, pound-foolish leave injured children with known offenders because we can't be bothered UK.
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