MetaChat - I just got an email

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30 March 2007

I just got an email from the assistant to my city supervisor, about a police hearing concerning a new security camera to be put on a corner where there was recently a shooting near my old apartment. I have no idea how City Hall got my email address →[More:] I was on the neighborhood safety committee email list for my old neighborhood, but I don't recognize any of the other names on the distribution list from there. Which brings me to the other point, which is that the email was cc'ed to about 20 people, which means a bunch of people I don't know have access to my email address, courtesy of my City Supervisor's office contacting us with concerns about public safety.

I'm in a crappy mood, and was about to send off a nasty-ish email to the assistant about sharing email addresses, so I'm just double-checking this -- this seems like a huge violation of privacy, yes? Or am I being overly grumpy?

post by: occhiblu at: 19:14 | 10 comments

No, even among my friends who know each other, if there's more than one, I BCC them and put my own email address in the To:. I'd be really frustrated if someone did that.

posted by Sil 30 March | 19:23

Yes, huge violation. They absolutely should not have made your email visible to other recipients. There are many reasons why not, but the basic fact is that they should have kept the addresses hidden. (I mean, what if you had a stalker, and now suddenly your stalker has your email address? Or something.)

Complain, complain, complain.

posted by mudpuppie 30 March | 19:24

That was pretty much all the encouragement I needed. Sent the following:

1. I don't know where you got my email address.
2. I don't know why I'm on this distribution list.
3. It's appalling that on an email concerning public safety, the
entire distribution list is visible to all recipients. I don't know
anyone on this list, yet they now all have my full name and email
address, and presumably know the neighborhood in which I live. Please
use BCC in the future, rather than CC.

Thanks.

posted by occhiblu 30 March | 19:41

Good, occhiblu. It's terrible policy for them to use the CC. I assume that it's someone that never even thought about it. Hopefully you've woken them up.

posted by gaspode 30 March | 19:43

Apparently it was the email list from the Safety Committee of my old neighborhood.

1. I asked to be removed from that list a month ago, since I don't live there anymore.

2. City employee's rationale was that the Safety Committee emails are not BCC'ed, so she didn't have to do so either. ARGH. The Safety Committee emails SHOULD be bcc'ed, and it's one thing to get an email from a neighbor that I've met in person who's emailing me in a context that I'm expecting, quite another to get emails from City Hall that don't mention how they got my email address.

"Your ad hoc neighborhood committee isn't particularly formal, so I guess City Hall doesn't need to be careful with your information." Or something. Dorkbrain.

posted by occhiblu 30 March | 20:07

Aaaand she wrote back to apologize and say I had good points.

Woo! Tax dollars at work, and a happy ending.

posted by occhiblu 30 March | 20:39

A huge violation of privacy? I'll say - cameras recording my activities on public street corners are a violation of my Constitutional protections against unreasonable search.

The no-Bcc: thing was dumb too.

posted by ikkyu2 30 March | 23:37

Well, they're having a hearing about it, and asking for citizens' opinions. I can send you the meeting info (I'll even bcc you!).

They're actually trying to put it up at the corner near where those two people were shot in the Haight.

posted by occhiblu 30 March | 23:53

A huge violation of privacy? I'll say - cameras recording my activities on public street corners are a violation...

I don't recomend coming to the UK then, we've got more cameras per capita than anywhere else in Europe.

This short film is well worth watching

posted by TheDonF 31 March | 01:39

Woo! Tax dollars at work, and a happy ending.

Huh. I've never got a happy ending from City Hall.

posted by Five Fresh Fish 01 April | 10:09

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