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Mother puts the pass into password

Workers everywhere beware! Disclosing your password to others may not just be hazardous to you ... it may also be dangerous for others.

user iconLawyers Weekly 29 July 2009 SME Law
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p>A high school secretary has been charged with using her workmates' passwords to "enhance" the grades of her daughter and lower those of her classmates.

Caroline Maria McNeal of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, has been accused of using the passwords of three co-workers without their knowledge to amend scores of grades and test scores at Huntingdon Area High School between May 2006 and July 2007.

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She was charged with 29 counts of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of tampering with public records, reports US website WNOR 99. Each count is punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment and a $US15,000 ($18,350) fine.

McNeal, 39, allegedly improved the grades of her daughter, Brittany, and reduced those of two of her classmates to enhance Brittany's standing in the 2008 graduating class.

The anomalies were discovered when an employee of the school's guidance office found conflicting SAT scores for Brittany - figures provided by a college board showed the student had a cumulative score of 1370, while an "unknown source" had entered a figure of 1730. The accused's fellow secretaries later said they had disclosed their passwords to her during holidays or other periods of absence.

Folklaw figures that Ms McNeal may have misunderstood the saying "Helping the kids with their schoolwork".

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