A recent note to Casnet from Arlie Proctor ended with the following bit of
boilerplate:
>
>This communication is intended solely for the use of the individual to
>whom or the entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information
>that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under
>applicable law. If you are neither the intended recipient, nor the
>employee, nor the agent responsible for delivering the communication to
>the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
>distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.
>If you have received this communication in error, please notify us
>immediately by telephone or email, delete the communication from any
>computer or other electronic storage media, and destroy all other copies
>in your possession.
>
Notes like these seem to be attached to almost every business fax I receive,
and I always wonder what legal force they have.
1) If I receive, unsolicited, a fax or e-mail intended for someone else,
what possible obligation can I have to keep it confidential? What exactly
is the "applicable law" referred to in this note?
2) If I inadvertantly overhear a conversation between 2 actuaries on a bus,
am I prohibited from disseminating any information gleaned? Does it make
any difference if the actuaries, realizing that I've overheard them, tell me
that the information is confidential, and that I may not disseminate it?
Bottom line: Do these statements have any legal force, or are they just a
bunch of legalese intended to intimidate people into complying?
Gary Blumsohn
garyb@worldnet.att.net
Visit the CAS Web Site at http://www.casact.org
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