This post does not seem relevant to issues like libraries, medical practices, schools and the like until one considers matters like HIPAA and its requirements for privacy of medical records, virtual reference and privacy of library customer records, and what teachers may be saying about their students in IM chat sessions to each other. Is it wise to be using IM to communicate in these contexts if their is a retrievable record of conversations about medical records of individuals, information needs or academic records? Are guidelines needed regarding what may be discussed over this medium given the fact that it may be resulting in archives of these records, or is legislation needed to protect retrieval of medical information in stored conversations using this medium and other confidential information? Please read George Lessard's post below.
Sincerely, David Dillard Temple University (215) 204 - 4584 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Net-Gold <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net-gold> <http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/net-gold.html> General Internet & Print Resources <http://library.temple.edu/articles/subject_guides/general.jsp> <http://www.learningis4everyone.org/> <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html> Digital Divide Network <http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/jwne> Educator-Gold <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Educator-Gold/> ================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 08:34:02 -0600 From: George Lessard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: L8 Media Mentor <mediamentor@yahoogroups.com>, L9 NetGold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Net-Gold] Instant Messages, Lingering Paper Trail Instant Messages, Lingering Paper Trail HP, Foley Cases Illustrate Risk By Mike Musgrove Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A06 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 2006/10/05/AR2006100501594.html?referrer=email> A shorter URL for the above link: <http://tinyurl.com/j8qnj> People who think their instant messages disappear after being sent should think again. As the recent scandals involving former Republican congressman Mark Foley and Hewlett-Packard Co. have brought to light, text messages sent in real time via computer can be saved and retrieved. Instant messaging has been growing in popularity, with nearly 79 million users of instant-messaging programs in the United States during August, according to research firm Nielsen-NetRatings. The most popular instant-message programs are from AOL, Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and can be used on computers and mobile gadgets such as cellphones and BlackBerrys. Many people who take advantage of these free software services believe their conversations can't be tracked, but that's a misconception, said Michael Hall, managing editor of the Web site Instant Messaging Planet. "Even the most basic instant-messaging software will keep some sort of archive," he said. "In the Foley case, I noticed there was a lot of carrying on in the right-wing blogosphere about the fact that these messages were recorded, [but] it's not odd. . . . Over the Net, you're never given any guarantees of real privacy." Sincerely, David Dillard Temple University (215) 204 - 4584 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Net-Gold <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net-gold> <http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/net-gold.html> General Internet & Print Resources <http://library.temple.edu/articles/subject_guides/general.jsp> <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html> Digital Divide Network <http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/jwne> Educator-Gold <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Educator-Gold/> _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
