Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] EMail addresses in list archives

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> > IMO for legal reasons I think you should either keep the account and
> > bounce all mail back to the sender or forward the mail to the requested
> > address by the accounts owner. By no means would I keep a copy of that
> > mail or allow someone else to open an account with the same name.
> > Recording anything in a business opens you up to legal trouble and
> > letting someone elses read the others mail could give rise to privacy
> > issues.
>
> But isn't your employer the owner of the e-mail account that he allows you
> to use (for work purposes only) during your employment?  If the employer
> were wise, he would have the employee sign an agreement at the outset
> stating that the employer has the right to read any and all e-mail at any
> time without requesting permission.

Technically the answer is probably yes on the company owning your email
account. However for as little trouble as the other is why not do it and
avoid the chance of legal troubles? A written agreement can be a good idea
also in some situations. I think for geek-class jobs they are inappropiate
as often things they prohibit are important to the job. I've seen some
that prohibited online chat and discussion forums.. which makes asking job
related questions difficult. I get a lot of good information off IRC,
mailing lists, and discussion forums.

> Personally, I like to forward mail for people after they've left.  I'll do
> it indefinitely.  But I can't imagine there is any legal risk in simply
> closing accounts when employees leave.  If you tell them in advance what
> will happen, they'll see it coming and they won't get in the habit of
> using the account for personal purposes.

It's not closing the account that is usually the problem. It's storing
'unknown' messages on your systems hdd for feds to raid or giving the same
address to some other employee which may impact on the privacy or
reputation of the previous employee (or even the new one.. what if old
employee had signed up to child sex ring.. new employee starts getting
daily pics mailed to them.. feds bust new employee that has nothing to
do with it).
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