confidential info on old harddrives.

From: bluoval <bluoval_at_mindspring.com>
Date: Tue Jun 1 18:22:21 1999

Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com wrote:

> Bluoval wrote:
>
> > I wasn't following this thread but here's my opinion.
> > A buy a house and everything it contains. There just happenes to be a
> treasure
> > map in there leading me to a pot of gold. who owns the gold? ME.
>
> Hang on. Says who? Taking the case of real estate - where the laws tend to be
> different from other cases - if you buy some property, you own everything on the
> property that was legitimately there (not stolen goods, for example) on the date
> that ownership is transferred. So if the gold is on your property, it's yours,
> whether or not there's a map. If the gold is not on the real estate you bought,
> ownership hasn't passed with the property, even if you did find the treasure
> map.
>

the gold is located on an uninhabited/unclaimed island, on a beach at the edge of
the water. =)


> is
> > copyrighted, I have every right to do as i please with it, which would most
> likely be
> > erasure.
>
> This way lies major legal tangles. Copyright law in the US tends to be
> different from the rest of the world, but over here AFAIK if you put your name
> and the date on it, it is your copyright unless someone can prove that they had
> their name and a genuine earlier date on it.

that's pretty much the same here too, I think, just have the proof in case of a
dispute.


> So any data you find, which will
> presumably have been date stamped by the filing system, and may be user stamped
> as well (or identified as the user's in some other way) is arguably
> automatically copyrighted.
>

Arguably, yes I agree.

>
> As far as publication is concerned, if you publish sensitive information about a
> person, there may be an action for defamation or some similar offence even if it
> is true.

Unless that person is in the 'public's eye', like the president? Please correct me
if i'm wrong.

>

>
>
> > I wasn't talking about morals. I'd probably find the previous owner and give
> it to
> > them, if they wanted it. otherwise I'd trash it. I have no use for old
> letters and
> > bank statements....
>
> So you weren't talking about morals. Maybe you should have been thinking about
> them, though. If someone makes a mistake and you discover it, what should you
> (morally) do? Exploit it for financial gain? Or help them put it right?
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If you read past my first sentence you would have seen my answer.



>
>
> There have indeed. Generally after copyright has expired, which in most
> countries now happens 50 or 70 years after the death of the writer. In the case
> of war diaries and the like, these are usually published with the permission, if
> not the active co-operation, of the author. This is a useful guide for when
> personal data ceases to be sensitive - 50 to 70 years after the death of the
> person concerned.
>

How long is the copyright for software?


>
> For me, the bottom line is more like: If you find sensitive data on a hard
> disk, there _may_ be legal loopholes that allow you to use it. But they are
> fewer than you might think. And (a) should you morally do so? And (b) do you
> want to bring classic computer collectors into disrepute by doing so?
>
> Philip.

A) answered above and in previous posts. B)No, refer to answer A.


Regardless, I still _believe_ that it is the seller who is responsible for the data,
if not morally or legally, than just for personal safety and/or fear of
embarrassment, or just paranoia. This of course is my opinion. I've never sold a
computer without first wiping everything off of it, and i don't have any info i
would consider sensitive or very private stored on there.

On the hypothetical about the drug dealer and his buyers, sellers and account info:
As a (insert your country) citizen, isn't it your duty to inform the authorities of
such crimes? Obstruction of justice comes to mind, for one (U.S.A).

And that situation about the 'shrink' failing to wipe his drive of very private and
sensitive info before selling it was just plain irresponsible. Would he throw out
letters or whole files without first shredding them? It is _*HIS*_ responsibility
for those papers, as is it his ethical duty to guard those papers and files he
stores in his office. Heck, the police needs a search order to gain access to those
files, why should one have access to those files, paper and other types, simply
because he/she failed to delete or shred them before a sell? <( or he/she moves to
another office and leaves her filing cabinet at old office?) If my information
were in that drive and i found out about it, I would demand he lost his license for
incompetence.

I would think that computer files are considered the same as paper files under the
law, again US law. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyways, if we really wanted to find the legal thing to do, one of us should contact
a lawyer friend that specializes in this. What category does this fall under anyway
(the personal information bit, not the software licenses)?
Received on Tue Jun 01 1999 - 18:22:21 BST