An employee at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has officially learned the hard way that your personal files do not belong on government computers.
In what might be the largest accidental upload in history, the DOE employee inadvertently backed up 187,000 explicit images to a DOE network while experimenting with AI-generated "robot porn", and promptly lost his security clearance.
The bizarre saga (first reported by 404 Media) began on March 23, 2023. Over the course of 25-30 years, the man had been collecting adult content on his personal devices, a collection that ended up consisting of 187,000 images.
Then, he decided to use it as training material for generative imaging tools, but accidentally uploaded the entire collection to his DOE-issued computer. Six months later, DOE investigators discovered the massive stash.
According to the appeal documents, the man genuinely believed his personal files were "partitioned" and wouldn't contaminate his government computer. When the DOE confronted him, he complained that the investigation felt like the Spanish Inquisition.
The appeal also revealed some unusual defenses. For example, he claimed the images were originally transferred to his government computer because viewing them on his tiny phone screen was impractical.
He acknowledged the rules were breached but insisted it "wasn't very wrong". A judge considered his medical history (including past depression and ADHD), but concluded that these factors didn't excuse the massive upload.
Ultimately, the DOE security clearance was not restored. So, lesson learned: if you have decades of personal files, maybe double-check which cloud you're uploading them to... especially if one of those clouds belongs to Uncle Sam.