Quote: If it is then publishing it breaches no ethic codes,
YES IT DOES! You confuse legal with moral. The Newspaper violated the public trust. Would you want your personal information ON ANY ISSUE printed publicly "just because it's legal". You can staple your nuts to the wall too, but it doesn't make it wise.
Having access to public records is fine, "outing" people like Big brother IS NOT. Having access to public records, be it property ownership or taxes, is there for transactions between you and the government, and you and third party that may need that information for a transaction between you and another person. It was not intended to be public for the newspaper to out people.
Quote:then the anger shouldn't be directed at the journalists who publish the information, but at the state for making the information "public" rather than "private". I still don't understand why people are getting worked up on this one I must admit.
BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT MAKE ANY PUBLIC DOCUMENT 100% private. IT IS CONDITIONAL AND CASE BY CASE, The public(including the press) can make the request as individuals or as a journalistic entity to gain access to ANY public document.
Like any job you have in life, it comes with responsibility. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Records have to be available to the public. But the way they did it is what was wrong, not the records being public themselves.
