In general, if you place these statements on every email as boiler plate language they may lose their effect, both realistically and legally.
I do not use them for the reasons mentioned by others. I send restricted information internally without a warning because the individuals I send to know what is restricted and have signed policy statements regarding restricted records. Almost all contact with the public concerning records is routed through our Legal Bureau.
Christopher M. Davidson, J.D.
Senior Archivist
Records Management Office
Bureau of Office Engineer
Alabama Department of Transportation
1409 Coliseum BLVD
Montgomery, AL 36110
334-353-6703
Radio 407
Fax 334-353-6976
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Myers
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 8:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: E-mail Confidentiality Statements
I agree with Jessie also. These statements appear at the end of the message. Although, I noticed that after I gave a presentation that pointed that out to the state government bar association, one of the attorneys put it at the beginning of the message. I have also seen one other law firm in KY do that as well.
As the original poster pointed out that most government email is not confidential because it is subject to Open Records/FOIA requests so the statement is kind of moot in our sector anyway. Just because the person says it confidential, doesn't make it so. One may not want internal or "sensitive" communication to get out to the rest of the world, but even so, it is still subject to Open Records (KY's term.) Yes, there are "closed" records (confidential under the Open Records Act) but those are few, at least in KY. One could also argue that using an incredibly public form of transmission, like email is, that the expectation of confidentiality is lessened due to the technology itself. **Before the replies start, this is a very generalized statement, I know. My point being that it is a federal crime to open someone else's postal mail (albeit not an easily enforceable one) but not to read someone's email. And you can use encrypted email, but there are
some serious Open Records, not to mention recordkeeping, issues with that. Again, at least in KY. My general advice to agencies is don't put anything in an email you don't want someone else (other than the recipient) to read. In our state, a confidentiality statement from a government office is like a red flag to the press.
I do think there could be some value to statements that direct the recipient to inform the sender if the email has been misrouted.
Mark J. Myers
Electronic Records Archivist
Technology Analysis & Support Branch,
Public Records Division,
Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives
300 Coffee Tree Road PO Box 537 Frankfort, KY 40602-0537
Phone: (502)564-8300 ext. 244
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.kdla.ky.gov
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