Annotated Bibliography

Scott Luberto

Dr. Miller

English 101

26 October 2008

I will delve into the controversial issue of Davidson college administrators monitoring student emails. My thesis, that it is unethical for college administrators to create a power structure by accessing and releasing information from student's emails.  My intended audience is fellow Davidson classmates, who are interested under what circumstances their emails are opened and what is done with their information.  I will give a brief description of the legal ethics behind email privacy, focusing on specific student examples and relevant consequences of such court cases. In addition, I will look into the specified conditions under which student email are searched and accessed. In regards to my research, I will interview the ITS staff in charge of monitoring the emails. These primary sources will give me information regarding under what circumstances emails are monitored, the method of searching for through emails and what is done with these emails. On the other hand, if they do not give me this information it compounds the unfairness of the situation by giving administrators access to our emails with very little accountability or transparency.  In addition, I will use articles from the legal information databases and personal cases to give a background of the legality of email privacy.

Annotated Bibliography

Creasy, Abby. Personal interview. 1 November 2008.

Smith, Rob. Personal interview. 29 October 2008. I plan to interview Mr. Smith and Ms. Creasy regarding Davidson's email privacy policies. This will include under what conditions they search student's emails. In addition, what method they use to screen for suspicious emails such as constant monitoring or the use of keyword searches. If information is withheld from me during the interview regarding the process of email monitoring, this will also be admissible into my essay because it illustrates a lack of transparency of the situation and can aid me in my argument for an unfair power structure. This interview will allow me to evaluate the ethics behind Davidson's email policy and how it compares to other organizations.

Geogiton, Peter J. "The FBI's Carnivore: How Federal Agents May Be Viewing Your Personal E-Mail and Why There is Nothing You Can Do About It." Ohio State Law Journal. 62.6 (2001): H.W. Wilson Company. HW Wilson. Davidson College. Davidson, NC. 24 Oct. 2008 <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/results_single_fulltext.jhtml>. For this article I only using the part that explains the constitution's protection against unreasonable searches. The article provides information regarding the ECPA as well as the fourth amendment and the steps that an organization must go through in order to access an individual's email. It also deals with the history of electronic privacy and certain court cases such as Katz vs. United States that greatly increases the scope of privacy by stating that the fourth amendment "protects people, not places." I will use this to argue that it is ethically wrong for a college to access our emails because students using their own computers can are still open, despite it not being college owned violating students' privacy. 

"Katz v. United States ." Katz v. United States. 1 2008. Net Industries. 25 Oct. 2008 <http:// law.jrank.org/;ages/127925/katz-v-United-States.html>. This article gives substantial information regarding this landmark case that greatly increased the privacy rights of individuals. I plan to use this case to illustrate that under the fourth amendment citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy regardless of the area that they are whether it be home or at college. This case requires a search warrant to acquire electronic communications, however in recent cases the implications of this case have varied. This case sets a standard of probable cause for search and seizure which should be applied to student emails.

"Privacy of Files and Electronic Mail on ITS Systems." Davidson . 1 May 2008. Davidson College. 25 Oct. 2008 <http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x1194.xml>. This is Davidson College's email privacy policy, which will be the basis for my entire argument regarding Davidson's right to access student email. This is the basis for my entire paper, because it gives me the foundation, for student's privacy rights at Davidson.  The policy spells out certain circumstances where Davidson, has the right to access student emails. However, it also adds that these are just some of the instances when Davidson may access student emails and not the only reasons. I plan to exploit the colleges vague terminology here to illustrate how they do not give students a clear understanding of when their emails will be searched. It also explicitly says that Davidson students do not have an expectation of privacy when using their electronic mail, which does allow Davidson to circumnavigate the issue of privacy.

Sherman, Marc A. "Webmail at Work." Touro Law Review. 23.3 (2007): 647-683. H. W. Wilson Company. HW Wilson. Davidson College. Davidson, NC. 26 Oct. 2008 <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/external_linkmaincontentframe.jhtml>. This particular law review provides an understanding for why organizations access emails. The portion of the text that I will primarily focus on regards the methods of access and monitoring such as keywords, file types, and even the parties involved. It also talks about different technologies including screenshot software and filters which allow administrators to either actively or passively monitor emails. In addition, the article focuses on the social component of email monitoring such as administrators making users aware of surveillance policies. It also gives an analysis of how certain case laws do not affect email monitoring in the workplace or college as it would at home.

Sidbury, Benjamin F. "You've Got mail...And Your Boss Knows It: Rethinking The SCope of THe Electronic Communications Act." Journal of Internet Law. 5.1 (2001): 226-236. H. W. Wilson Company. HW Wilson. Davidson College. Davidson, NC. 25 Oct. 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid>. This article looks into the exceptions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. This is crucial to my topic because these exceptions allow organizations like colleges to monitor emails. It explains the two important exceptions of the ECPA including the provider exception and user exception. This provider exception allows the college or "provider of service" an exception to the privacy law. This exception circumnavigates a user's expectation of privacy, thus relinquishing any fourth amendment claim to invasion of privacy.