Re: Chat board privacy issue

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On 1/19/08, AR wrote:
>
> Thanks. Is it illegal for a person to post personal info on a
> public message board w/o sending it in an email or giving them
> permission to do so?
*********
I am not sure.

There may be state or foreign laws on that but whether they
would apply beyond the border of their jurisdiction is
doubtful. I doubt that any cross-border application of Internet
laws would be recognized without a treaty on the matter.

As for US federal law, absent a "reasonable expectation of
privacy" on the part of the sender, I don't see how posting an
email you received would violate anything but good manners.

Again I say this is a fascinating topic and would like to hear
your opinion and that of others on the board about the legality
of posting an email you received without permission. Laws?? --
Right to privacy?? -- Privileged communications?? --

There is currently an ethical debate about using a mistakenly
sent email containing privileged information to opposing
counsel. It happens more than you might imagine. A lawyer will
mistakenly send a privileged communication to an opposing
counsel instead of his/her client. Has the counsel waived
privilege by their mistake? Can opposing counsel use the
information to their advantage?

Also the use of "data mining" is a contentious topic. Many
lawyers are not aware that sending a document (such as a Motion,
Complaint, or Settlement offer) as an attachment to an email may
allow the recipient to "mine" data from the document that the
sender thought had been deleted. As you compose a document on a
word processing program, changes you make may remain embedded in
the code of the document. If you, for example, change a
proposed settlement amount from $10,000 to $15,000 as you
compose your letter then send the completed letter as an
attachment or even a pdf attachment, the change you made may
still be embedded in the document code. If your opposing
counsel "mines" the data (programs to do this are readily
available) they might gain an advantage by knowing your real
bottom line.

This kind of stuff interests me.