Thursday, July 5, 2001

Eli Lilly e-mail snafu reveals identities of Prozac users This kind of error is made frequently by new users of e-mail software, but it is interesting (but perhaps not surprising) to see that corporations running large mailing lists occasionally making the same error. In either case, it's usually merely an annoyance, or a strategic embarrassment (i.e., effectively giving away your customer list to your competitors). However, in this case the desire of the patients to keep their medical condition private adds another more serious layer to the risk. Allan Noordvyk [Allan Noordvyk via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 51] 0:00 # G!

Eli Lilly e-mail snafu reveals identities of Prozac users Eli Lilly sent an announcement that it was discontinuing a mailing list, using CC instead of BCC. Some of the more than 600 recipients were unhappy about having their e-mail addresses and Prozac use disclosed, because the purpose of the list was to send out reminders to fill prescriptions for the anti-depressant drug. According to a *ComputerWorld* article, "Eli Lilly is preparing a code audit review and 'working on a program that would block all outbound e-mails with more than one address.'" The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate. A little bit of anonymity is a good thing, even if it's not totally anonymous (e.g., a Hotmail account). ["Jeremy Epstein" via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 51] 0:00 # G!