What are opinions of seeing sensitive data on a hard disk? 4

[apcandmacuser]

Hi:
Suppose you worked on PC's and a computer came in for repair with a bad HD. The customer also asked you to transfer any recoverable data to the new HD. I presume no one has a problem if some illegal activity was discovered and it was reported to the authorities. But what about if the machine belonged to the spouse of a good friend and on it was discovered a nearly year long trail of internet (& live) dating to find a new spouse - and you know your friend doesn't have a clue. What would you do? Would you talk or remain silent?

 

[Stella740pl]

KornGeek, Wayne,

I am not offended and glad you enjoyed the debates and possibly benefited from this discussion. It's just that I've already expressed my opinion thoroughly enough and am done discussing the issue.

Let's just say that to discuss it fruitfully (and not go round and rounds about the same stuff) any further I would have to bring into discussion examples more personal that I would like to share in a professional environment. Is it a reason good enough? ;-)

Have fun.
Stella.

 

[Murgle]

Whilst I have enjoyed this thread, I feel it has gone on for long enough..

apcandmacuser
Can I have my computer back now please?

Ahhhhh, I see you have a machine that goes Bing!

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

"Is it a reason good enough"

Agian you shouldn't have to give a reason on why you feel the way you do.

KornGeek - good point ... I had not thought of that issue

As I get older I seem to view the world, more and more, with a open mind. respect other peoples point of view....as long as it doesn't promote violance or exploit the vulnerable like children.

Hope I've been helpful,
Wayne Francis

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[sleipnir214]

I think the very fact that there are no clear-cut answers makes this thread interesting.

Instead of evidence of cheating on a spouse, if I were to find child pornography images, it's a no-brainer for me. I'm immediately on the phone to my local constabulary.

If I find evidence that he hasn't been rewinding the videotapes he rents before he returns them, I'll probably forget about it before I have a change to talk to my friend.

But infidelity is one of those tricky situations where a person's own deontic heirarchy is going to guide his actions. That's why I haven't posted in this thread -- I'm not really sure what I would do about the evidence of extra-marital activity.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[johnwm]

A fascinating thread, opening up some interesting views of the way different people think. There have even been a few on-topic comments. I'm sure that people will rush to correct my (obviously erroneous) impression that this is the <Information Technology Ethics in the Workplace Forum>.

That's Information Technology Ethics, not the religious zealots forum. The question here (to be on-topic) can only relate to the IT aspects.

Q. Is it ethical for an IT professional to snoop around someone's hard drive trying to dig out personal information without their permission, and with no apparent good reason?

A. Never!

End of IT ethics discussion! The rest of the discussion, though illuminating, is only of practical use in spotting those with questionable professional ethics. There are already lots of programs around that snoop their way around hard drives, digging out personal information, but they are usually called viruses, trojans, spyware or malware in general. That's not the way I want to end my professional career, by acting like malware, no matter how fine the personal reasons may be. It's really clear from the original question that this wasn't information that appeared by magic - it was deliberately snooped for.

Of course everyone has their personal decisions to make, but this is about the IT ethics, not personal ones.

________________________________________________________________
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'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'

 

[sleipnir214]

The original question outlined the scenario of recovering data from a failed hard-drive. I would take it, as a part of my professional duties, to verify that the data I recovered was actually readable.

And the only way I know of to do that would be to try to open it in the appropriate application and examine what the application displays to the screen.

It could very well be that in the ethical performance of my duties as an IT professional, I will end up aware of the activity of my friend.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[Onyxpurr]

I don't believe the question asked was if what he did was okay, but rather if he should approach his friend about what he found.

"What would you do? Would you talk or remain silent?"

This is an issue in IT Ethics as anyone of could be put in the same position and really are if dealing with confidential information. What if you were an IT Mgr at a place of work and when scanning through e-mail or webpage hits you found out your friend was cheating? Would that be any different?

:-`

Side: If you want to discontinue the discussion...then stop visiting this thread and allow us who are intersted to continue our discussion if we choose.

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

Someone posted this earlier but I think we need to recognise that the original poster didn't indicate they where snooping and didn't ask if snooping was ok.

Someone else has mentioned that if you found this information and brought it to the attention of your friend you better be willing to bear the responcibilty of how you got the info.

If I was deliberately digging around trying to find gossip because my life is so boring then I'm probably to spineless to own up to the real way I've come across this information but as Sleipnir points out it is easy to see this information without intentionally digging for dirt.

For example I rebuilt my friends box (wiped the hard drive and reinstalled everything)

Part of this was making sure they had their email still (Outlook express). Now I'm a BA/Programmer. I'm not a tech guy but I know from doing my own system I can back up the folders reinstall and if I put the folders back properly and reset the accounts up right all the email will be there. Not 100% confident I, while they where there, logged into both their accounts in XP and opened outlook to see that they had the right email boxes (ie I didn't put my mates email folders where his wifes folders should be and vise versa.

Now it isn't really snooping when you bring that up and bam in your face is an email that is a bit suspect. The human brain is a magnificent thing and you call read a quick email without even trying to read it.

for example if you saw this in a preview pain
.

Hey cute stuff,
  I've booked my tickets and the hotel.  I can wait until I get you alone in the spa and $#@( your .....
  We need to do these "Buisness trips" more often.  I can't believe Mike hasn't got suspicious.  Better for us tho! :)
Love you 
Joe

Your friend is Mike and this is his wife's email. Hmmmmm
All you where doing was making sure that you had his wifes folders in the right place.

I guess if you had reservations about approaching your friend you could deliberately leave the emails switched so the next time Mike logs in he sees that his wifes "Business trip" to Sydney next week will not be the business he expected it to be.





Hope I've been helpful,
Wayne Francis

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[johnwm]

I see where you are coming from - it was the

...and on it was discovered a nearly year long trail of internet (& live) dating to find a new spouse...

that set me thinking.

If I accidentally saw one email on someones machine that possibly indicated an indiscretion, I wouldn't feel professionally obliged to track down a years' worth of email correspondence and chatroom activity just to test whether I'd got emails in the right folder. I would personally view tracking a years worth of transactions on at least 2 separate applications as unwarranted snooping

________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

Good point Johnwm,
If I don't think I'd dig that far either. Mostly because I cann't see how I'd be put into a situation that it would happen. I'd stop the first occurance and I'd still tell my friend what I'd stumbled across. If at that point my friend asked me to help him/her to find more information I would.

I guess we need to look at what is stumbling and what is fishing. There is a big ethical issue about fishing for information. Ie I could find out medical or other personal information that my friend may not want me to know. If I really stumbled across that type of information I'd probably keep quiet unless it was destructive.

I'm not sure how you can stumble on over a year worth of data but agian it could be something like just seeing a folder full of email from the person they are cheating with. Internet and RL dating....well not sure what Internet dating is. To me if you are RL dating someone then the internet is just like love letters and not what I'd class as cyber.



Hope I've been helpful,
Wayne Francis

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first