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Corporations Face Problems with Employee Emails

Posted by Zonk on from the think-before-you-send-is-a-great-adage dept.

TwistedOne151 writes "Law.com has an article outlining how the casual attitude of many employees toward work e-mails has resulted in some thorny problems for corporate in-house counsel. 'It has now become routine even in civil investigations for computers to be subpoenaed so lawyers can look at e-mails and hard drives. And one thing always leads to another. "We have forensic software that shows multiple levels of deletions. It shows thought processes. We can learn far more than from just a document alone," said [Scott] Sorrels. "E-mails have taken over the world."'"

10 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. "E-mails have taken over the world" by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, in that case, I welcome you, our new overlords.

    1. Re:"E-mails have taken over the world" by Gideon+Fubar · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, they're be more accountable and easier to trace than the current lot..

      --
      http://www.xkcd.com/354/
  2. Wait, emails have taken over the world?! by Seumas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought we just had a slew of articles around the internet telling us that email is dead and it's all about myspace and instant messaging?

    Anyway, if you have truly devious intentions, simply use the telephone or speak in person. It works for the president and it has worked for the mafia (at least, it did in GoodFellas).

    1. Re:Wait, emails have taken over the world?! by cbart387 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Old people use email. I guess 23 is the new old then.

      I'm surprised all the people that use webmail, even compsci students at my college. I think people would not be so swift to abandon it if they used an email client program. Emails in thunderbird are much quicker then using the mess that is facebook. It'll never rival IM but it's pretty darn close.
      --
      Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
  3. surprise by wizardforce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    THe one thing that can never really be dealt with in terms of keeping email private is the fact that no matter how much you encrypt, use tor etc. youcan't escape the fact the person at the other end can always make a backup copy. The lesson here? If you really don't want something to get out into the world in one way or another DONT SEND IT.

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    1. Re:surprise by Hebbinator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think you missed the point-

      The "take privacy procedure" and "dont email anything you dont want to get in trouble for" advice in this case is not being applied to the general public - its for emails at WORK.

      The internet was not made so you could say things that make you liable at your job and get away with it. Read the article - it effectively equates interoffice emails to official business. You are "allowed" to use the internet, and you can use it to communicate freely and easily; however, you can neither use company email anonymously nor without consequence, because it creates a permanent record.

      I think that its reasonable to say "dont write anything in a COMPANY email that could get you fired/ be used in a lawsuit" just like you wouldnt write those kinds of things in an office-wide memo. Your work email is not private, it belongs to the company, which makes you and the company both responsible for it.

  4. Aww, poor corporations. by evanbd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shall I shed a tear because you have more trouble hiding things from the public?

  5. Re:Lawyer's advice: be two faced by Riktov · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course, there are people who think its okay to break the law, just so long as no-one finds out about it. To those people I don't send email - I send it direct to the CEO.

    In most companies such people typically are the CEO.

  6. Solution?: Use DRAM SSD for email storage by Zymergy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What about the option of using an (albeit more expensive) (Volatile) DRAM-based SSD for your email servers?
    If *someone* subpoenas it, kindly provide it (unplugged) with the any passwords and a full set of encryption keys...
    (Assuming there are not already laws prohibiting a corporation from using a faster (700-1400MB/s @ 3s), more reliable (protected with both ECC and RAID), higher I/O preforming (3 million random IOPS), volatile DRAM SSD array for their email storage?)
    "Here is my untouched email server storage device all boxed up and sealed as required per your subpoena order..."

    504GB of DRAM would make a *nice* email storage device... (Violin 1010) http://www.violin-memory.com/products/violin1010.html

  7. Re:Simple Solution by Cutterman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Cardinal Richelieu said, "Give me six lines written by the most honest man, and I will find something in them to hang him."

    As true now as it was then.