State Dept. staff snoop in passport records.

• Position: PRIVACY - Lawrence Yontz - Brief article

A former U.S. Department of State employee has pleaded guilty to illegally accessing the confidential passport records of hundreds of celebrities, politicians, and other public figures, according to ComputerWorld. Lawrence Yontz, 48, of Arlington, Va., could receive up to one year in prison and a fine of $100,000.

According to court records, Yontz improperly accessed the State Department's Passport Information Electronic Records System's (PIERS) database between February 2005 and March 2008.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson said Yontz's guilty plea is related to the disclosure earlier this year that three contract employees working for the State Department had accessed passport records...