Hello! the discussion has started off with an interesting observation
about language, but there are some other messages here too.
In reality, Email may be one of the worst ways of sending a message in
terms of its poor security and lack of confidentiality. If you send a
fax there's a good chance that the contents won't be seen by too many
people. If you send a letter, by registered mail or by courier, the
chance is again considerably reduced. The message at the bottom of the
email basically appears to say, please don't open and read my letter
unless it is meant to be read by you. There does seem to be some onus
(albeit an ethical onus) on an inadvertent recipient to respect the
privacy of others if an email arrives in your mailbox unbidden.
However, the point is well taken that individuals (notably,
professionals working on behalf of another) should not under any
circumstances be sending information of a personal nature concerning
another party via unsecure (or insecure?) electronic mail. Even
encryption and digital signatures may be insufficient protection. There
is more than an ethical responsibility here, there are laws to protect
the individual, at least here in Canada. Briefly, the Personal
Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is one example
(guides are available from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of
Canada and at the government website) which attempts to set the
standards to organisations to obtain consent regarding the collection,
use and disclosure of an individual's personal information, sets out the
individual's right of access to his or her personal information,
attempts to ensure that information can only be used for the purposes
for which it was collected and provides for the use of physical security
for personal documentation. Personal information of course includes
information pertaining to health matters.
So do you lock up your filing cabinet as well as the door when you leave
the office at the end of the work day? And if you are working with
"clients" do you talk about their situations in a corridor, at the bus
queue etc. etc. Are you careful about sending emails and to whom you
might send cc's and bcc's? Worth thinking about at the minimum and
probably very good reason to do an assessment of your organisation and
your own practices.
Regards
Vivien Runnels
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