Judge Compounds Bank's Email Fail

by Wendy Davis, Sep 25, 2009, 4:30 PM

• Comment
• Recommend (16)
• Tweet
• 

Many people are scratching their heads at a federal judge's order telling Google to deactivate the account of a user who was mistakenly sent an email with confidential financial information.

It's obviously problematic for a judge to order an email user's account be shut down because someone else mistakenly sent a message to that account. It's also almost certainly unconstitutional for a court to suspend someone's means of communications without advance notice or an opportunity to argue against such a drastic step.

Google might yet be able to get the order revised or stayed. Whether the company will seek to do so isn't clear; as of this afternoon, any substantive papers filed by Google weren't available on the court's PACER system.

But the fact that the order was issued at all is enough to call into question the future of cloud computing.

True, we don't know much about this particular account holder. The court documents reveal only that Rocky Mountain Bank sent the address an email by mistake on Aug. 12, and then sent two follow-up emails asking the recipient to contact the bank and destroy the first message.

No one answered the messages, but we don't know if the recipient received them, deleted them unopened, or read and ignored them. At this point, all seem equally likely. But if the recipient had been inclined to cause mischief with the information, he or she certainly could have done so between Aug. 12 and now.

Meantime, this latest debacle is just another example of how quickly information in the cloud can be lost. Earlier this year, Flickr stunned many observers by deleting Shepherd Johnson's 1,200 photos after he allegedly violated the site's terms of service by posting comments and pictures on the White House's Flickr page.

Also, the Web site Progress Illinois reported earlier this year that it temporarily lost access to its YouTube account, which hosted at least 25 original clips, in response to a takedown request by Fox.

Many Web companies, including ad companies, have high expectations for the cloud. If people can access their documents, photos and other material online, marketers have a huge opportunity to reach consumers when they're engaged in activities other than watching TV or reading the news.

But that might not be realistic if online data continually disappears.

• Comment
• Recommend (16)
• Tweet
• 

0 comments on "Judge Compounds Bank's Email Fail ".

1. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited
   

   commented on: September 25, 2009 at 4:50 p.m.

   It's a CLOUD.

2. Theresa m. Moore from Antellus
   

   commented on: September 27, 2009 at 3:30 p.m.

   In general I look at every email I receive; even if it is SPAM. If it does not pertain to me or my activity directly it goes in the trash bucket. People cannot order or demand that services remove other people from sites. If FOX decides that the content infringes they should be going to the infringer directly, and leave the hosting service out of it. If the hosting services start doing what these companies demand the result would be a definite chilling effect on the posting of any content, or other kinds of censorship. I am sure the political parties are looking at this as a way to block other parties from participating in the cloud. Such censorship is basically against First Amendment rights of free expression. That a journalist posted the content is of no difference. The net was inventing to provide "the people" with free and unfettered access, so Fox's demand is without merit. I personally do not watch or read what I do not like. I don't see why anyone should be "ordering" me to watch or read only what "they" want me to. That tantamounts to fascism.

Leave a Comment