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Japanese officials mistakenly use public settings on Google Groups

The wrong privacy settings allowed anyone to see internal government memos.

JAPAN’S BUREAUCRATS USED the wrong privacy settings for Google Groups discussions, allowing anyone to see internal memos including on negotiating positions for an international treaty, the government said on Wednesday.

Environment ministry mandarins were among those who used the default settings on Google Groups, which allow public access to discussion threads, instead of limiting them to members only.

The mass-selling Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said it found more than 6,000 cases where information from public or private organisations, including hospital records, was publicly available.

The Yomiuri, the world’s biggest-selling newspaper, also admitted its journalists had been using the wrong settings on Google Groups, and may have revealed draft stories and interview transcripts to anyone who wanted to see them.

Google Groups allows users to establish or join discussions on any subject, which can be accessed either by email or through the web.

The user who sets up the group can determine who can join the group and who can view and post messages.

The default on the set-up page allows anyone to see messages, although this can be limited by a drop-down menu.

A spokesman for the environment ministry admitted officials have used the service to share information, including planned talking points for negotiations on an international mercury trade treaty.

The Japanese delegation also uploaded its exchanges with their Swiss and Norwegian counterparts. The treaty is expected to be signed in the autumn.

“It was problematic that the processes around ongoing negotiations could be seen by outsiders. We have taken corrective steps,” an environment ministry spokesman told AFP.

The memos were not “top secret”, but were not for public release, the spokesman admitted.

Officials from at least six government ministries and agencies used the wrong settings on Google Groups, allowing outsiders to see internal exchanges, national broadcaster NHK said.

The Yomiuri also reported that hospitals and schools had uploaded patients’ and students’ records.

At least one political party also used the service, revealing a list of its supporters, the Yomiuri said.

- © AFP, 2013

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    Mute Fly The Irish Flag
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    May 13th 2012, 9:24 AM

    If it was down to me, harvest what you can & put the rest in a cloth sack, big party (black not permitted), then cremetation & disposal of ashes with a tree planting.

    Ultimately though, Whatever brings peace to those left behind. Not going to make much difference to me.

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    Mute Emsy wemsy
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    May 13th 2012, 9:36 AM

    That’s pretty much what I’d like…..not sure I’d count on the big party though,how crap if no one showed up hehehehe

    55
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    Mute Conor Oneill
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    May 13th 2012, 10:14 AM

    I don’t want to die. Putting it off by mega loading vitamin c 1000mg per day.

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    Mute Shanti Om
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    May 13th 2012, 2:41 PM

    I know it’s a joke, but that’s not a mega dose of vitamin C..
    Humans, guinea pigs, primates and bats are the only mammals who do not produce their own vitamin C. The mammals that do, produce the equivalent of about 10g per day.

    If you overdose on vitamin C it has a laxative effect, it’s called “bowel tolerance”. You get loose bowels, same way you do when you reach bowel tolerance of magnesium (hence why milk of magnesia does such a good job of cleaning you out). Anything up to bowel tolerance is considered healthy.

    That can be anything from 1-10g per day, it all depends on your bowels.. The 60mg RDA is literally the amount you need to not get a deficiency, not the amount you need to detoxify homocysteine or histamine, or to have anti oxidant benefits.

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    Mute Conor Oneill
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    May 13th 2012, 3:10 PM

    No laxative effect if you spread out the dosage. I don’t take all at once. It’s water soluble impossible to over dose. The rda is a joke

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    Mute Shanti Om
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    May 13th 2012, 3:36 PM

    Well, it is a water soluble vitamin..
    Just hope your soluble is sweetener free and has citrus bioflavonoids or else it’s self defeating :)

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    Mute Conor Oneill
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    May 13th 2012, 3:45 PM

    Why?

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    Mute Shanti Om
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    May 13th 2012, 4:19 PM

    Ascorbic acid is only a part of vitamin C. When you take ascorbic acid the body needs to find citrus bioflavonoids (like rutin and hespedrin) in order to be used effectively by the body. Otherwise it’s simply excreted, which can overload the kidneys.

    The sweeteners, well.. Aspartame (aspartic acid and methanol), Sodium Saccharin (coal tar) and sucralose (glucose and chlorine) aren’t exactly the health foods they are made out to be..

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    Mute Lois Mcgrath
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    May 13th 2012, 5:19 PM

    try vitamin D…its been year since I’ve had a cold or flu……yes i’m going to live forever ;-))

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    Mute Adam O'Sullivan
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    May 13th 2012, 9:50 AM

    I want to be buried at sea. Well my mother in law always said she’d tap dance on my grave!

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    Mute Conor Conneally
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    May 13th 2012, 9:49 AM

    I thought the Funeral was always secondary to the wake. Where everyone the deceased ever knew is crammed into a house with Mountains of Hang sangwidges and cups of tae.

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    Mute Richard Keogh
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    May 13th 2012, 10:01 AM

    I don’t want any ceremony. Morgue, crematorium, ashes scattered preferably near a racecourse. No ceremonies, no wake and definitely no religious nonsense of any type.

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    Mute jim redmond
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    May 13th 2012, 10:14 AM

    I was at a humanist funeral of a friend last year and I have to say it was perfect – a real reflection of who he was with no religious nonsense.

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    Mute Michael Fagan
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    May 13th 2012, 11:12 AM

    We need more competition between the funeral parlours. Prices of funerals so are exorbitant one might suspect a cartel arrangement

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    Mute Frank Faldo
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    May 13th 2012, 12:02 PM

    There is not much room left in Glassnevin and I hope to be buried there. What I wish writted on my gravestone is This is my new address NO BILLS.

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    Mute JibberIrish
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    May 13th 2012, 9:30 AM

    Always the more green scenic option of the Dublin mountains on the cheap. http://www.UpsetIrelandGangland.com

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    Mute Noddy Mooney
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    May 13th 2012, 2:17 PM

    No mention of donating your body to science in the article. TCD and The Royal College of Surgeons (possibly others) offer this option.

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    Mute Shanti Om
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    May 13th 2012, 2:42 PM

    Or you can donate yourself to Gunther Van Haagens plastination institute!

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    Mute Ann Reddin
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    May 14th 2012, 1:16 AM

    I have filled out the forms to leave my body to the College of Surgeons, which is literally 50 paces from my front door, my kitchen window looks directly at the main entrance of the college on York Street. They wont even need to ring for an ambulance – someone can just run over and get a trolley, and I’ll be still warm when I get there :O)

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    Mute John Deadhappy Brady
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    May 13th 2012, 12:25 PM

    Im a funeral clown. I make people happy at funerals. I havn’t done a funeral yet but I hope somebody would want me sometime:) http://www.facebook.com/deadhappyireland. “Like” and “Share” if you would like a Dead Happy Funeral:)

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    Mute AlanSmyth
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    May 13th 2012, 10:33 AM

    I think it depends on what way I go. If its sudden and unexpected you can’t control how people would feel. If I knew I was dying like a long term illness have a party celebrate my life go on the lash (again no black)

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    Mute Rodger O Waters
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    May 13th 2012, 10:44 AM

    Smoking or non smoking,cremated or buried , I’d go for the ashes in space myself,

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    Mute Baigneuse 1910
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    May 13th 2012, 6:31 PM

    When Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek died, he had his ashes launched into orbit aboard a Pegasus rocket. Perfectly poetic!

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    Mute Shanti Om
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    May 13th 2012, 2:44 PM

    I heard someone talking about a “Sky Burial”, where you are basically left out for the animals to feed on, so that your death can contribute to the survival of a wild animal.. Although I’m sure you would need to be deemed safe for consumption!

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    Mute louise
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    May 13th 2012, 2:08 PM

    What a depressing subject

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