CRU Email Hack and "Climategate"

There has been a great deal of chatter in blogs on both politics and climate science regarding emails and scientific data stolen from a university computer serving the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. The stolen material can be found in many places on the internet at this point, and relatively few scientists have managed to find time to read them or address the issues involved. The most balanced and thoughtful discussions can be found in the posts by Gavin Schmidt at Real Climate.

My only comment at this point is that all scientists need to be concerned about our privacy and confidentiality privileges both as citizens and professional researchers. It is particularly offensive to hear a sitting United States Senator promoting this sort of thievery and promising to hold a Senate hearing in which the stolen material will be aired and relied upon to trample upon the rights of university professors and government scientists here in the United States.