Recently I showed our ward council, the information technology awareness video produced by the Presiding Bishopric. One of the items that was taken away was that email should not be used when discussing sensitive or confidential information. The question that was asked of me and which I said I would need to further investigate was this:
"If the email is encrypted, can we still discuss confidential or sensitive information"
My first thought was yes, but after reviewing multiple threads on this forum, I am thinking no. I'm thinking this way because the encryption software could be installed on a computer which is shared by multiple users and hence violate policy for keeping sensitive information secure. The second thought I had was if the email account was subpoenaed or requested for litigation, you would likely have to turn it over. Again, this has now violated Church policy.
Has anyone had any similar experiences or is this something that we should just say no to?
Communicating via Email
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https://www.lds.org/leader/
Once you are logged in, click on the Information Security Awareness link.
Once you are logged in, click on the Information Security Awareness link.
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The relevant bullet point, (printed in bold) is: "Never use personal or work e-mail to send confidential or sensitive personal information such as details about Church disiplinary councils."
"Never" is a strong term. Except for the church-supplied ldsmail, I can't think of what email would be considered not "personal or work".
"Never" is a strong term. Except for the church-supplied ldsmail, I can't think of what email would be considered not "personal or work".
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- aebrown
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"Never" is indeed a strong term, leaving little room for interpretation.RussellHltn wrote:"Never" is a strong term. Except for the church-supplied ldsmail, I can't think of what email would be considered not "personal or work".
But the terms "confidential" and "sensitive" are open to more interpretation. Obviously, the example given of details about Church disciplinary councils would be considered "confidential" and "sensitive" by just about anyone. But there are many other kinds of information that are less sensitive than that, but still might be confidential or sensitive. Where do you draw the line? That requires judgment and guidance from those with priesthood keys.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
- johnshaw
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Might there be an implication that a dedicated email for church purposes might be used? One additional item, we have advised any stake leaders that if they share an account with their family or spouse that they get a new email specifically for Church purposes. Like has been stated, there is a big difference between having 'confidential' information about who the new EQ President might be vs knowing 'Confidential' Information that there is an EQP that is trying to recruit his quorum into a Polygamous Cult.
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JohnShaw wrote:Might there be an implication that a dedicated email for church purposes might be used?
Seems like a iffy interpretation to me. If it's personally owned, wouldn't it still be a personal account? From a technical standpoint, the differences would be minimal. An account supplied by the church (ldschurch.org) would seem to be the only "loophole". That email is under the control of the church IT department.
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