Health Information Management

Study reveals risks of incorrectly handled e-mails

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, November 29, 2004

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E-mail can considerably damage an organization's reputation and pose significant liability risks if the organization does not set parameters for e-mail use and secure these transactions, according to a study from Audiotreve, a company that creates products that use language technologies to filter, sort, and retrieve information.

Audiotreve looked at e-mails sent within the Enron organization released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The study found that tens of thousands of e-mails contained inappropriate information such as disparaging racial comments and offensive jokes, as well as medication and ailments of Enron employees.

The company conducted the study to determine the nature and extent of risks e-mail can pose. If companies do not ensure that their e-mails, both inbound and outbound, comply with existing legislation, they could face damaging litigation. "Vicarious liability can apply to all companies, large or small, and many are paying for it in high-profile lawsuits," said Roger Matus, CEO and co-founder of Audiotreve, in a press release.



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