Libertarian Defends Professor Cronon (while blasting the hypocrisy of the Left)

Over at the leading libertarian magazine, Reason, writer Shikha Dalmia attacks conservatives for using FOIA laws to invade the privacy of historian William Cronon. At the same time, Dalmia defends Open Records laws while noting that groups may abuse their rights by going after individuals. On that score, the Left comes in for a tongue lashing for politicizing the process (and so much else in academia).

Frankly, I’m surprised that Professor Cronon was so clueless about the dangers of work email addresses. I’ve said it before (here, here, and here): your work email is state property and open to reading by your university or outsiders who file FOIA requests.

Bottom line: DO NOT USE YOUR .edu account for anything unrelated to work. Use another account.