What you're finding are the archives of the AVAPL listserv. The AVAPL listserv has always been archived. The archives are automatically deleted after a certain period of time or are deleted when/if the listserv moves to a different host. Keeping the archives has helped my ability to troubleshoot when there have been problems with the listserv. The archives have also been used when members of the AVAPL Executive Committee have wanted to review the contributions of the membership to a particular topic, in part to formulate their action agenda. That being said, the option to maintain archives can be turned off, although the hosting company recommends against it and states that, once turned off, the archives cannot be turned back on. Whether or not the archives are maintained is a decision of the AVAPL Executive Committee, and I'll be happy to follow their direction.
Whether or not the AVAPL listserv maintains an archive, please do not be fooled into believing that any e-mail-based communication is private. Once you click the "send" button, your message is subject to being forwarded to anyone at any place at any time. Even if you happen to encrypt your message, it's very easy for the recipient of the message to remove the encryption and forward it to anyone s/he wants. You can activate an option in Outlook to disable the forwarding of the message that you send, but there's nothing that stops the recipient from copying and pasting the forward-disabled message into a new message and sending it out widely. And also keep in mind that your local IT folks are backing up all messages that go through the Outlook servers each and every day and can search through them when needed (e.g., in response to a FOIA request or as part of an investigation). The key is to make sure that you are cautious with what you write in an e-mail. If you're concerned that what you're writing is not appropriate, reveals too much about yourself, or could get you in trouble, don't send that message.
Also, don't be fooled into thinking that there's truly any such concept as privacy now that the internet is so prominent in our lives. I have taken care to ensure that my home address is not published in the local phone directory and that my contact information is removed from the online directories that I'm aware of. However, just this weekend, I came across a site (www.spokeo.com) that aggregates information about people. Not only did it list my complete address and telephone number, but it also listed my age, marital status, and political affiliation, and clicking on a tab provided a picture of my home and an estimate of its market value. It looks like I was successful in getting that information removed from that site, but how many more such sites are out there? That's of greater concern to me than any e-mail that I've written.
Jeff Burk ------------------------------------- On 11/22/2010 7:08 PM, Worthen, Mark wrote:
Whoever manages the list should be able to change that setting. If not, AVAPL might want to consider using a different listserv provider. Mark P.S. I'm a new member as of a few days ago. Howdy! :o) Mark D Worthen PsyD Department of Veterans Affairs Texarkana Community-Based Outpatient Clinic 910 Realtor Avenue, Texarkana, Arkansas 71854 Office: 870-779-2732 | Cell: 435-647-6706 Fax: 870-216-2583 From: avaplmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:avaplmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rose, Jonathon Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 4:51 PM To: members1@xxxxxxxxx Subject: [AVAPL Members] Re: Heads up regarding public archiving of AVAPL messages Wow! Is this something we can change? I don't share any important secrets here, but having searchable email chains feels too open. A bit more privacy seems appropriate. JonJon Rose, Ph.D.VA Palo Alto Health Care System 650-493-5000 x 64334 From: avaplmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:avaplmembers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roper, Brad L. Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 8:39 AM To: members1@xxxxxxxxx Subject: [AVAPL Members] Heads up regarding public archiving of AVAPL messages Just a heads up to AVAPL members that messages on this listserv are publicly archived to "freelists.com," accessible to anyone doing a Google search. For example, not to pick on Wayne, but googling "Wayne G. Siegel" yields this on the first search page: //www.freelists.org/post/avaplmembers/Members-Looking-to-see-if-others-have-a-primer,1 Web surfers can also link to related posts and browse messages by date, at least for the past year. Also, anyone can subscribe to the list, if they wish. Of course, listserv messages are not confidential, but AVAPL's is the only one I have encountered that is so open to the public. So obviously we should be especially careful before hitting SEND. Note: This message also available via freelists.com! Cheers, Brad Brad L. Roper, Ph.D., ABPP-CN Program Manager, Neuropsychology Director, Neuropsychology Residency Training Associate Director, Psychology Training Memphis VA Medical Center Associate Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology University of Tennessee College of Medicine Brad.Roper@xxxxxx ph: (901) 523-8990 x5783 fax: (901) 577-7371
