Leaving a trail?

Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.

According to to Wikipedia, the above quote is attributable to Massachusetts politician Martin Lomasney, regarding the importance of discretion.

Think about Mr. Lomasney's statement the next time you write an e-mail. In a previous post, I referenced my article on legal terms for IT professionals, and one of those terms was e-discovery. If your company is involved in a lawsuit, the other side will be asking for documents your company has, including e-mail. So, be careful what you put down electronically.

I thought of this point just the other day, when I received an e-mail from someone at a client company. I had visited this company and done a presentation for them. The person who e-mailed me thanked me for that work, but said there were additional management and organizational issues that existed, and that it would be good for me to return and do additional work. The person then requested that I not associate that person's name with the person's comments if and when I talked to leadership in that company.

I'm certainly fine with that request, and would keep that confidence. I was surprised, though, that this person, in sending me the e-mail, used the address and e-mail system of the company itself. I would never betray the confidence or anonymity of the person, but that person actually potentially did, by using the company system. Not to be paranoid, but once that information goes through the company mail servers, there's a chance someone technically able could view it.

Had I been this person, I would have done the following alternatives:
- used a private e-mail (e.g. gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail), and then from a non-company computer e.g. home, or Internet cafe or library computer, and preferably where no sign in or electronic login is needed
- used alternate content, such as "Calvin, could you call me, because I wanted to discuss something?" (then given a home or non-company cell phone number)

Of course, these alternatives aren't foolproof, but they do offer more privacy than what the person actually did.

Always think about what you're putting down, and about who could be looking at it.

An embarrassing e-mail

I received a note from someone today, in reaction to my Tech Republic article on avoiding e-mail blunders http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/helpdesk/?p=56.

This person had received, from someone he knew, a note in error. The sender did not mean to send it to this person, but rather to someone with whom the sender was having an affair. The person who e-mailed me wondered if he should have let the sender know, then concluded he probably shouldn't, because of the resulting embarrassment.

I don't know how to answer this person, so I'd like to get your comments. From my perspective, I see two issues:
- addressing and sending too quickly
The person mentioned in the email probably didn't check the address field. If they have predictive fill-in, it's easy to send a message to the wronge person.
- relying on e-mail in the first place
Putting such intimate thoughts in an e-mail is questionable by itself. One doesn't know if the note will be forwarded, and in addition, the contents of e-mail are generally open for being read by others. Rather than putting dangerous or sensitive thoughts in e-mail (and I'm not advocating that you have an affair), think about simply asking the other person to call.