Senator Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is pressing the White House for more information on the email address it set up to gather reports on "fishy" information being circulated about its plans for a health care overhaul. He wrote to President Obama:
While I am pleased that the program has apparently been dismantled, I remain concerned about the information that was collected during the 13 days that this program was in effect. Unless actions have been taken to purge the data, the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and private speech of U.S. citizens who had their speech reported are still accessible from one or more White House computers. No American knows for certain whether his or her personally identifiable information or speech are included in this data, nor how the data sent to the [email protected] account will be used. I therefore renew the questions from my earlier letter: What protocols is the White House following to purge the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who have been reported to have engaged in "fishy" speech?; and How do you intend to use the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who have been reported to have engaged in "fishy" speech?
Based on new reports, I have an additional question. There have been allegations that emails sent to the [email protected] email address have been shared with the Democratic National Committee and other third-party groups outside of the administration. Have any of the contents or the information from email received at [email protected] been shared with the DNC or any other outside group?
The letter from Mr. Cornyn also notes the ACLU raised its own concerns about the collection program.