An internet poster quit his job after being outed to his employer by an editor for the Post Dispatch. While on the clock, the now jobless commenter had responded with a vulgar word to a question on the St. Louis news site. Twice. The editor then shared the poster’s IP address and other pertinent information with the school where the poster worked, ultimately prompting the poster to quit.

The STLtoday.com privacy policy states, “We will not share individual user information with third parties unless the user has specifically approved the release of that information.”

Which is worse? A school employee posting a vulgar word while on the job, or a once reporter violating his publication’s own policy, their promise to the public, and sharing someone’s personal information with a third party? I’ll take the naughty word any day.

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