data Valdez

n. an accidental release of a large quantity of private or privileged information. Subjects: English, Online, Technology, Slang

Editorial Note: After the 1989 oil spill by the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The pronunciation of Valdez, in this case, is usually something like val-DEEZ. Thanks to Karen Reiter for suggesting this entry.

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Citations: 1999 David Akin National Post (Aug. 31) “Cyber hackers breach 40 million Hotmail account” @ Usenet: flora.mai-not John Mutambirwa “hot privates”: “The way we look at this is, it’s a Data Valdez situation,” said Tara Lemmey, president of San Francisco-based advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation. Just as the the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska was a disaster, so too is Microsoft’s loss of confidential information, she said. 2000 Usenet: alt.privacy (Aug. 23) “HMO Breaches Members’ Privacy”: Two articles on health insurer’s privacy problem (from Washington Post and SF Chronicle). Good example of a data valdez! 2000 Fred Mogul Internet World (Nov. 1) “Rise Of The CPO” vol. 6, no. 21, p. 35: “If we don’t see headlines in a bad way, if we don’t see a ‘data valdez,’ a ‘data spill,’ then we’ll know they’re doing their jobs well,” says David Steer, spokesman for TRUSTe, which certifies the reliability of e-vendors in regard to privacy. “One of the worst things that can happen to an Internet company is to be tainted with the image of being privacy-insensitive.” 2004 [Donna Wentworth] Usenet: alt.activism.d (Apr. 28) “EFFector 17.15: Verify the Vote—Stand Up for Accountable”: Second “Data Valdez"…Shortly after the JetBlue scandal broke, Northwest Airlines admitted to handing over to NASA three months’ worth of passenger records—once more for data-mining research. 2005 Andrew Noyes Warren’s Washington Internet Daily (May 5) “Govt. Inches Toward Standards for Protecting Consumer Privacy” vol. 6, no. 87,: Information brokers and the public now find themselves in a highly publicized pickle, Homeland Security Dept. privacy chief Nuala O’Connor Kelly said, likening data spills to oil or chemical spills in their capacity to wreck lives. “We have not kept up with our need to act as stewards for data,” O’Connor said. Sweeping oversight such as came after the Exxon Valdez oil spill hasn’t come to pass for data, but we live in the age of the potential for a “Data Valdez,” Kelly said. 2006 Jason Calcanis Calcanis.com (Aug. 9) “Hard times at AOL right now”: Ted checks in on what people are calling the “data Valdez."…Every couple of steps we take going forward,…we seem to get hit back by something horrible like “the call” or “the data Valdez.”

Posted 15 Aug 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend