Activist Blogger Claims He Infiltrated The DADT Survey
Security surrounding the supposedly confidential “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” survey has been lackluster, to say the least. First, the survey, which was sent to 400,000 non-deployed active troops, was leaked. And now, self-proclaimed gay rights activist and civilian blogger John Aravosis claims he was able to participate in a secondary portion of the Pentagon’s survey.
Aravosis posted on Americablog’s gay-themed sister site yesterday that he used several PIN numbers gathered by the same unnamed military source to log into the online chat part of the survey, which is designed to create a dialogue with gay and lesbian service members not wanting to use their Department of Defense computers to take the actual survey. He accessed the online chat three times using three different PINs, but from the same computer for two of the three, implying that the service is not equipped with security measures to prevent people from joining the chat more than once. The third time he joined the chat, Aravosis allegedly used another non-military party to communicate with the “real human being” proctoring the dialogue. Screen shots of his access to the chat were also taken.
According to Aravosis:
“I got my multiple PIN numbers from the same person, who was able to themselves get multiple PIN numbers. Meaning, military people can log in multiple times to get the PIN numbers they need to take the survey, so they, or their non-military friends – or even gay (or anti-gay) activists, can take the survey. I’m also told that DOD civilians can take the survey – with all due respect, who cares what they think? I thought this was about active duty military?”
After the story was posted, Aravosis received a call from a spokeswoman for the Pentagon who told him that the online dialogue is not an actual part of the survey, and that it “is not a referendum,” despite the fact that the chat was designed by the Pentagon to gather the opinions of gay and lesbian members of the military on the repeal of DADT.
To recap: military personnel can leak top secret intelligence information as long as they are devoted Lady Gaga fans, and anyone can take part in “confidential” dialogues with the Department of Defense meant solely for service members. Way to go, Pentagon!
