Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!xanth!hoptoad!dasys1!seth
From: seth@dasys1.UUCP (Seth Robertson)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin
Subject: Ethics of the System Administrator
Summary: What are they?
Message-ID: <7586@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 11 Nov 88 23:39:04 GMT
Sender: seth@dasys1.UUCP
Reply-To: seth@ctr.columbia.edu (Seth Robertson)
Distribution: na
Organization: Columbia University:  Center for Telecommunications Research
Lines: 27


Someone recently asked this question, but I never saw it answered.

What are the professional/ethical standards for a System
Administrator.  (i.e. are we legally/morally prohibited from looking
in User's files?  Does it take a court order?  If a police guy or an
authority in your company/university asks to see his files should you
let them?  Can you look in people's files to see if they are
performing criminal acts (e.g. "cracking")?

A major part of that question might be answered  if somebody knows if computer
data stored on/off line is private property or not.


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*Seth Robertson						      Systems Manager*
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