OT: legal obligations

[Kareem Shehata]

Standard disclaimer for this topic: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal
advice, anything written below is to be taken only at face value, blah, blah
blah...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org [mailto:owner-tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org] On Behalf Of Howard
> Gibson
> Sent: Wednesday 16 January 2008 20:25
> To: tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org
> Subject: Re: [TLUG]: OT: legal obligations
> 
> John,
> 
>    Two thoughts.
> 
>    Perhaps we should get lawyers to repair our computers.  Lawyer client
> communications are confidential.  As a computer repair guy, you are not
> licensed or certified, as far as I know.  You have no legal status as far
> as communications with your customer are concerned.  What happens when you
> call a plumber, and he sees the posters in your bathroom?

As has already been pointed out, even lawyers have a duty to the public if
they are aware of a crime yet to be committed.

>    The opposite case is interesting too.  When I take my computer in for
> service, what are the repair guy's obligations to me when he finds
> interesting stuff on my computer?  It might not be kiddieporn, but it can
> be copyright.  Perhaps I did not think through the implications of a non-
> disclosure agreement I signed.  Is there any reason a minimum wage
> technician should not pass my emails from Paris Hilton on the National
> Enquirer?   How about online passwords stored as cookies in plain text?

That's definitely a gray area.  To the best of my knowledge, privacy laws in
Ontario don't currently cover commercial transactions like these.  Even the
privacy laws in other Provinces only cover "personal information" collected
by companies, not data handed by HDD or other means.

That said, I'm also not sure about the two more obvious situations:

1) If you don't report something that you've seen and know to be illegal.
If you're not a professional (accountant, lawyer, doctor, engineer etc.), is
there a duty to the public?

2) If you report something that isn't really there, are you liable?  I have
a hunch that the answer is "no... but you don't want to go there", but I
can't say that for sure.

-kms


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