Re: Query, GEN: Privacy & Email

["Aleene B. Nielson" <ablanca@BIGPLANET.COM>]

Dawn Sardes wrote:

> Just curious,
>
> Does anyone know if emails are afforded the same privacy protection as other,
> older forms of communication?

I suspect that the privacy of email is less secure than other forms of
communication.  Whether someone forwards (or shares) a letter with another person
probably depends on the integrity of the receiver.  The same is true of telephone
conversations that are supposed to be private but may be taped without one
party's knowledge.  We heard a lot about that issue in the past few years.

Email, by its very nature, is a more public communication -- stored on a server
to which a great many people have access (whether legitimate or not) -- rather
than in print/written form on paper that is sent only to one person or a
telephone conversation that usually involves only two people.

The messages we submit to listserves frequently are placed in archives -- just do
a search of your own name on google to see how often your comments show up -- so
we know none of these are confidential.

If you absolutely, positively must keep something private, you probably should
not share it with anyone.

Cynically yours,

Aleene Nielson
LearningOpportunitiesUnlimited
ablanca@bigplanet.com

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