confidential email

fisher8181

i got an email today with commercially sensitive information in it and a diaclaimer/threat at the bottom not to share as its sensitive information.

i do not work for this company nor am i contractially linked to them in any way.

Legally, am i free to share this information if i wish?

Carawaystick

yep.
There's no such thing as confidential email. The owner of any computer the email passes through on the route from sender to receiver can read the email.

Peregrinus

Carawaystick wrote: »

yep.
There's no such thing as confidential email. The owner of any computer the email passes through on the route from sender to receiver can read the email.

He can, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is free to use or pass on the information in the e-mail.

There's no such thing as a confidential e-mail, in the sense that there is no technology which will absolutely assure the confidentiality of the contents of an e-mail. But can somebody who receives an e-mail, or who becomes aware of the contents of an e-mail, be subject to an obligation of confidentiality with respect to the e-mail? Yes, absolutely they can. It all depends on the relationship between the person sending the e-mail and the person receiving/becoming aware of it, and on the circumstances in which it came into their hands.

The information conspicuously missing from the OP is, why was the e-mail sent to him? Was it sent to him in error, or does he have some non-contractual relationship with the sender? Or something else?

Victor

fisher8181 wrote: »

Legally, am i free to share this information if i wish?

If it contained someone's detailed medical history or some similar matter, you could be impinging on their constitutional right to privacy.

Marcusm

Victor wrote: »

If it contained someone's detailed medical history or some similar matter, you could be impinging on their constitutional right to privacy.

Surely as a constitutional matter that binds the State not a private individual.

Peregrinus

The constitutional guarantee is not merely that the state won't infringe your rights; it's that the state, by its laws, will protect and vindicate your rights. Therefore there should be a legal remedy for infringement of your rights by parties other than the state.

That's why, for instance, murder is a crime. To protect and vindicate your right to life, it's not enough that the state or its agents should refrain from killing you; the state needs to protect your right to life from attack by others.

GM228

Whilst Ireland has not caught up yet, case law in the UK which could be of persuasive value has established that breach of confidence no longer relies on the traditional need for an initial confidential relationship when passing on information, the position now is simply whenever a person receives information (irrespective of how it is received) that they know or ought to know is fairly and reasonably to be regarded as confidential then a breach can occur.

Aside from breach of confidence do we have a form of the fairly new tort of misuse of private information or similar as they do in the UK?

Marcusm wrote: »

Surely as a constitutional matter that binds the State not a private individual.

Peregrinus wrote: »

The constitutional guarantee is not merely that the state won't infringe your rights; it's that the state, by its laws, will protect and vindicate your rights. Therefore there should be a legal remedy for infringement of your rights by parties other than the state.

Obligations under the constitution aren't just limited to the state, they also apply to it's citizens, as per two important Supreme Court cases - Meskell vs CIE [1973] IR121 and Crowley vs Ireland [1980] IR102, they held a person can be held liable for damages for breaching another persons constitutional right.

Victor

Would using commercially sensitive information in such circumstance amount to insider trading or some similar offence?

GM228 wrote: »

Merkell vs CIE [1973] IR121

Meskell?

GM228 wrote: »

Crowley vs Ireland [1980] IR102

Is that the Dunmanway school case?

Marcusm

Victor wrote: »

Would using commercially sensitive information in such circumstance amount to insider trading or some similar offence?

Meskell?

Is that the Dunmanway school case?

“Market abuse” is the term you should search for - it depends on the circumstances in which the information comes into your possession.

Reati

fisher8181 wrote: »

i got an email today with commercially sensitive information in it and a diaclaimer/threat at the bottom not to share as its sensitive information.

i do not work for this company nor am i contractially linked to them in any way.

Legally, am i free to share this information if i wish?

Cut to the chase. How much you planning to sell it for?

GM228

Victor wrote: »

Would using commercially sensitive information in such circumstance amount to insider trading or some similar offence?

I don't think so, have not looked at it in a long time but pretty certain it only applies to shareholders, employees or those involved in criminal activities.

Victor wrote: »

Meskell?

Yes, slight typo.

Victor wrote: »

Is that the Dunmanway school case?

Drimoleague national school.