Thursday, July 7, 2011

What are your rights regarding personal email?

[I'm not talking legally...just ethically]

So, someone gives you their business card with all their details. Can you load it on Outlook to make it easier for you to contact them. Can you add them to you phonebook on your phone? What if your phone gets stolen? Can you give it to a colleague? What if the colleague has some work for the person? What if the colleague is an annoying git? Can you give it to a salesperson who is selling selling something you think the person would want? Can you give it to a salesperson just to get them off your back?

Taking things further... Facebook argues that you do not have the right to take your 'friend's details off their network and use it on another network. Obviously Facebook have a vested interest in you not being able to move information off their network and tying you down but do they have a point?

Of course, they've never had an issue before with apps sharing users' details and downloading friends' information.

But this is not to judge Facebook on their new awareness of privacy, it is to ask the question. Should someone be confident to move your personal information including you email address to any system that they want to? Or should they ask first? Or should they just not do it at all?

Discuss. :)