Friday, October 30, 2009

Watch What You Put In Email Correspondence!!

Not too long ago, I read where, as a precaution against identity theft, you should never post your mother's maiden name online or anything private (such as medical info) that could go into the wrong hands. Now, I'm finding out it's not even safe to email a personal email to someone. That person apparently has all the rights to post your private email online. Case in point: Someone who is *not* a Loy descendant, but rather, whose ancestral aunt married into the Loy family sent me the following reply:

From: prsjr@att.net

Subject: Re: IA Genweb page My Queries on Line?

Date: October 30, 2009 4:31:45 PM PDT

To: loy_genealogy@att.net


Deloris, so nice to hear from you to.
I have Not heard from you since 2004
When you correspond through e-mail you are no doubt aware that you are giving that information to the recipient.
Under the federal "Electronic Communications Privacy Act" (ECPA)
that recipient can upload/forward that same information to any additional recipient(s) he/she wishes.
See: Privacyrights, on E-Mails
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#Email <---Click Here!
Some of your E-Mail's [Apr. 05, 1997] have been on our "Query" pages for over 12 years!
and now you tell me you did NOT mean for these to be posted on our pages??????
By now your E-Mail's have been "spidered" to several million sites through-out the internet system.
I have no idea what you consider "personal stuff??" You must be more specific.

Paul R. Sarrett, Jr. President FOPC© (prsjr@att.net)
Researcher, Compilier of Friends of Page Co., IA.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapage/index.htm <--Homepage!
http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapage/families.htm <--Families!



-----Original Message-----
From: Delores Rochelle Walls
To: prsjr@aol.com
Sent: Mon, Oct 26, 2009 6:33 pm
Subject: IA Genweb page

Paul,

I did a search for my name under Google and saw where you posted my email letters to you on your queries page. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapage/families/loy/QUERY1.HTM

None of these emails I sent you were "queries" and nothing I meant for posting online. They were emails to you. Some of this was personal stuff, like my chemo experience (which I was told can discriminate me from being hired at jobs I've been trying to find!), my street address, and mother's maiden name. I moved from there in 2003, so that's not an issue, but could you please delete this personal stuff??

Thanks!

Delores