Authorities traced the IP address back to her house and raided it

Privacy / Security
#1

Seems a little heavy handed for an email that is characterized as “insubordinate.” Don’t get me wrong, the allegations could very well be true and she should held accountable. Yet it seems unlikely that a private business could muster a similar response to an insubordinate employee.

tl;dr State of Florida IT employee was fired on grounds of insubordination as she protested about her role in data reporting of COVID-19 cases. She created her own COVID-19 Dashboard to challenge the State’s reporting. She sent an unauthorized, broadcast email, after being fired, through the private State Department of Health portal calling for more whistle-blowers to speak out. They traced the email, via ip address, back to her house. It was raided yesterday.

You should care about privacy because when the State thinks your ideas are detrimental, they’ll be coming for you. Unless you learn how to hide.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2020/12/07/agents-raid-home-fired-florida-data-scientist-who-built-covid-19-dashboard-rebekah-jones/6482817002/

1 Like
#2

:thinking:
This looks like a set up to me.
From what i’ve read, she didn’t do what the authorities asked her to do (manipulate data) and got fired.
If she built that sofware, (i haven’t seen the dashboards) she knows her way around a computer, i think.
Why then would she use a state emergency system, from her own house, with her own ip adress, to broadcast a message?
She would know to use at least a vpn, among other things to hide your identity etc, if you were going to use that system.
Oh, and the fact that everybody with access to the system uses the same username and password. :astonished:
What can go wrong?
You’re absolutely right about privacy and that you definitely need to learn how to cover your tracks, if you’re going to do any “extra curricular activities”.

#3

You posit some interesting points to consider. I read another article that claimed that in a breakup with her husband she had been charged with cyber-stalking but it appears the charges were dropped. (Using a computer to harass someone is a subset of the cyber-stalking charge in FL. She was probably just harassing her ex.) This encounter with her ex should have clued her in on matters of privacy.

I’m with you in the simple fix of a VPN outside of the 9 eyes or at least TOR.

The good news for her is that she has parlayed this into a battle along political lines and pointed the finger at Gov DeSantis who has a working relationship with President Trump and a “open for business” approach to COVID in the State of Florida. The media outlets which routinely grill Trump have had the fired employee on their news shows and this has rallied support for her among those who dislike Trump and his policies. (something something enemy of my enemy). As a result she has $150,000+ raised in 18 hours in a gofundme campaign.