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At 17:58 28/10/2011 +0200, Alexander Thurgood wrote:
Le 28/10/11 14:49, Ian Whitfield a écrit :
I would be happy to put my DB up for examination but I am _VERY_ protective of the contents as it is all personal information of the Members in my Group and I don't want that getting into the 'wrong' hands!!

If you send me the ODB file in private [...], I can assure you it will remain confidential (I'm an attorney).

I'm always puzzled by this sort of claim. The subjects of this personal information presumably expect that it will remain confidential: that is, not be distributed beyond the audience they anticipated when they provided the information. If it gets to you, that expectation - that confidence - has already been betrayed. It doesn't matter what you promise to do or not to do with the information: if you have it, it is no longer confidential.

Perhaps you think that confidentiality is respected if you undertake not to pass the information on to others. But that idea fails too. Suppose that I ask you for the information; following this argument, you would be justified in passing it on to me, provided I promised also to keep it confidential - presumably meaning that I would not pass it further. But there is nothing to stop me then making use of the same exception that you have applied. Do you see where the argument is leading? By this theory, it is perfectly permissible for everybody on the planet to see the information, provided they all undertake to keep the information "confidential" - with this new, looser, useless meaning.

When I offer someone information in confidence, I expect that it will go no further - not even to the recipient's lawyer, let alone someone else's. But you are by no means alone: many people think they can betray any secret as long as they are assured that the next person will behave the same way, receiving the same empty assurance.

Brian Barker


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