News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The City of Seattle Accidentally Gave Me 32M Emails for $40 by rocqua on Sunday October 21, 2018 @05:51AM (#18267343)
> I have never assumed that an email address I gave the government would be protected. I would also not assume that the contents of any email I sent would be in any way protected either.

I have similar assumptions, but what about the less technically inclined citizens?

Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if the ploy described by the OP:

> Could I request this data myself, then start emailing them scam emails "I know you contacted us in June, could you call me on 555-1223 etc"

would work on me. Really, it would take me checking DKIM and/or SPF to notice such an email. And from this story it seems likely the city of Seattle doesn't actually implement DKIM or SPF.

Re:The City of Seattle Accidentally Gave Me 32M Emails for $40 by wolco on Sunday October 21, 2018 @01:59PM (#18269203)
DKIM and/or SPF can be a liability if you want to accept everyone's email. Only use if filtering is more important.