Email privacy

Should emails be posted for public viewing?

It is my opinion that emails or letters that are confidential and which contain trade secrets should not be made public.

However, my emails to and from LCI/LCIF and LCKKHost members, I believe, are beneficial to the other Lions Clubs as well as the public. Even many senior Lions are not aware of the many things I have discovered and disseminated through my emails. 

Furthermore the motive of the person posting the emails for public view should be considered. I write these emails so that others may learn from them. I post them in my blog for authenticity and for transparency.

Do we need the permission of the correspondent to post these emails? I believe not for I believe that LCI and  LCIF would not have thought that these emails should be private.

One could paraphrase the emails but then again it may distort what the writer actually intended to say.

The emails from the Legal division had a disclaimer as follows:

This electronic mail message and any attachments contain information intended for the exclusive use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any viewing, copying, disclosure or distribution of this information may be subject to legal restriction or sanction. Please notify the sender, by electronic mail or telephone, of any unintended recipients and delete the original message without making any copies. This message and any attachments are not intended to be tax advice, however, if this message or any attachments contain advice with respect to a Federal tax matter subject to the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, such advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Thank you for your cooperation.

I interpret that the message means that I am the intended recipient and that I could do as I wished with it. I believe the emails posted in my blog do not "contain information that is proprietary, privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law."

For courtesy sake I shall exclude the name of the writer in future posts. I believe there is no copyright to emails I have received.

Questions I would ask are:

i.                     Is any harm done?

ii.                   Is there any benefit to the public by posting emails received?

iii.                  What is the motive of making these emails public?

My purpose of setting up my blog is to educate Lions as well as would be Lions around the world on matters I have learned in my 2 years as a Lions Club member.

There are obviously a lot of confidential matters that is not for distribution but there is nothing confidential about what I am writing.

I believe for confidentiality there should be prior agreement by the two parties.

What is your opinion?