Individual Privacy (TI)

This pages contains a selection of advice from The Ethics Office at Texas Instruments Corporation.

The advice is that of either TI Ethics Director Carl Skooglund or Glenn Coleman, Manager of Ethics Communication and Education. The articles were distributed among TI employees via TNEWS.

It's a private matter

MSG security violations -- a matter of respecting privacy

TI's policy regarding the reading of another TIer's messages

Forwarding messages...and more games that people play

Article Number 203: It's a private matter

This section addresses various ethics issues as well as comments and questions posed to the TI Ethics Office and will be changed weekly. Please distribute these articles to those who do not have IMS access.

Each of us has a reasonable right to privacy at TI? How would you react if someone interfered with yours?

If you are a regular reader of this column, you know what the values of this company are, how TI attempts to create an environment where people are valued as individuals and treated with respect and dignity, fairness and equality. This is one of our goals... but we know from your feedback that gaps do exist, that there are workplaces where TIers do not experience that respect and dignity, where things may not always appear as fair and equal.

One of the most often reported issues in this area is the lack of respect for individual privacy.

Consider these two letters from fellow TIers

1. Please post on T-News a reminder to TIers that their practice of stopping and looking over the office walls and/or eavesdropping is not appreciated and is a negative impression on our customer. We are coping with increased responsibilities brought on by reductions and flattening, however our offices are still located in the low-wall work areas where disturbances are normally at a high level. Some increased ethical consideration would be nice.
2. I have experienced a situation that I believe is a gross compromise of privacy. The situation involves the reading of mail in my in-basket and faxes addressed to me in the fax Output basket. I consider this the same as reading my messages on IMS. There is a distinction between accidental or glancing at surface papers vs. paging through in-baskets and documents to read a 10-page fax or sift among multiple layers in an in-basket are overt acts.

At TI we expect the right of privacy...to a degree. Operational considerations might require the sacrifice of some privacy. Not everyone has an office with a door, individual and a private work area, a unique mail station, or even an individual MSGID. But what these two letters criticize is something different, a deliberate and inappropriate interference into the privacy of another TIer.

What would you do to change an aggravating or offending behavior such as this? Many would directly confront the offender, and ask them to change that behavior. But not everyone is that proactive. There are some who would rather avoid the confrontation and simply accept the aggravating behavior. Others would involve their supervisor or manager to get the behavior changed. Some have contacted the ethics office.

Another tactic that some have used is to copy off an appropriate article from T NEWS such as this one and leave it anonymously on the offender's desk. (This is not a proactive approach but it is very effective. I have actually recommended this to TIers on several occasions . . . and it worked.)

Each of us has a reasonable right to privacy. It's a matter of mutual respect. It's a matter of trusting relationships. It's simply the right way to behave.

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Article Number 182: MSG security violations -- a matter of respecting privacy

This section addresses various ethics issues as well as comments and questions posed to the TI Ethics Office and will be changed weekly. Please, distribute these articles to those who do not have IMS access.

How would you feel if someone opened and read your personal mail without your permission? Most of us would probably be angry. But ask that question about our communications at work, particularly messages sent via the TI MSG system. Should there be any difference?

We are frequently asked the following question in the TI Ethics Office:

"What is TI's policy regarding the reading of another TIer's messages?"

Many callers ask specifically about the reading of password-protected information.

It is unacceptable for someone to access another TIer's messages unless that TIer has granted specific permission to do so. Respect for the privacy of this information goes right to the core of our relationships with one another. It reinforces personal trust and respect.

Yet there continues to be a problem with the accessing of message traffic and the information of others. Some appear challenged to defeat the password protection simply for the joy of "hacking" into an area where they've been denied access. Others seem to thirst for insight into information not intended for them.

Whatever the reason, breaking in to read other TIers' MSGs is improper and can result in serious disciplinary actions including termination.

It is important for anyone who is tempted to abuse the system to understand that TI takes this issue very seriously. When we have reason to believe that improper access is occurring, it is often not difficult to identify the source from system records.

TIers Should act to protect themselves

Each of us has several responsibilities as systems users to protect our privacy. The MSG system has several features designed to make this easier

If you have a business need to give co-workers access to your MSGs, you no longer have to reveal your MSG password to them. You can now give them access by using the MSG Delegation function. This gives you the freedom to choose how much access you want to give another TIer -- from the lowest level, reading, filing and printing normal mail, to all MSG functions for both normal and secure MSGs. To do this, type MSG on a blank IMS screen and enter. Choose option 75 after you have indexed your MSG password to your IMS password.

Indexing your MSG password to your IMS password means you only have to remember one password. It will also be automatically changed every 90 days under the new IMS security policy that goes into effect June 1. You also don't have to worry about coming up with a creative password that would be challenging to hackers. To index your MSGIS to your IMS User ID, type MSGREQ on a blank IMS screen and enter. Choose option 1.

Protecting our System

What about TI's rights to monitor our MSG traffic? All of our information systems at TI are company property and, therefore, offer TI the legal right of access. However, TI does so only under very restricted, self-imposed conditions and only after abuse is suspected.

There are circumstances under which TI will access message systems without the knowledge or approval of the user. Examples would include such system abuses as

1. a breach of information security
2. the unauthorized accessing of messages
3. offensive communications

Under these types of situations, TI Information Security will get involved. Their investigations may involve monitoring MSG traffic to identify offenders.

IS&S Security will also grant access to a TIer's messages if that TIer is absent for some reason and their manager must access that information for the continuation of TI business.

It all comes down to a matter of choosing to do what's right. TI will not monitor MSG traffic without just cause. TIers should never access MSGs of other TIers without their specific permission and knowledge.

It's a matter of privacy and respect. It's a matter of choosing to do what's obviously right.

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Article Number 160: TI's policy regarding the reading of another TIer's messages

The respect of privacy is important at TI, and this extends to the normal use of the TI computer network. However, TI Information Security may monitor message traffic in the case of system abuse.

I am frequently asked the following question

• What is TI's policy regarding the reading of another TIer's messages? Many of the callers make particular reference to the reading of password protected information. Our position is this. Although all of our information systems at TI are company property and, therefore, offer us the legal right of access, we do so only under very restricted self-imposed conditions. It is done only for justifiable reasons. The privacy of TIers' personal message traffic should be respected. It is unacceptable for someone to access another TIer's messages unless that TIer has granted permission to do so. Respect for the privacy of this information goes right to the core of our relationships with one another. It reinforces personal trust and respect.

There are, however, circumstances under which we will access message systems without the knowledge or approval of the user. Examples would include such system abuses as

1. A breach of information security
2. The unauthorized accessing of messages
3. Offensive communications

Under these types of practices, TI Information Security will get involved. Their investigations may involve the monitoring of message traffic in an effort to identify the offenders.

It is important for anyone who is tempted to abuse the system to understand that this is an issue that TI takes very seriously.

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Article Number 223: Ethics and the TIer-Forwarding messages...and more games that people play

Texas Instruments is certainly an information rich company. There are so many convenient ways to pass information and data. This convenience raises several ethical questions.

Several interesting questions have come in on the ethics communications lines regarding the sending of copies on the MSG system.

1. Is it ethical to blind copy a message to a third person without notifying the primary recipient? If I send a message to my boss, can I ethically send a copy to her boss if I don't tell her?
2. The intent and reason for such action will determine its propriety. Some TIers will blind copy members of the team or the secretary just so that they might know what's going on, to stay in the loop. No problem there. But if it is done for less honorable reasons, then it is of questionable ethics. A reasonable question to ask is why is it being done? Is it to trick, or lure, or deceive the recipient of the message? A good quick test is to ask yourself how you would feel if the recipient found out about the distribution of copies. If it makes you feel bad, reconsider the action. If you know it's wrong, don't do it.
3. And, in the opposite vein, What if I put a name on the MSG in the copy to spot...but I have no intention of sending a copy to them? Is that unethical? A good example is putting the name of the recipient's boss on a message, but not really sending it, just to scare the recipient. This practice appears to be a blatant lie and is very unethical. You are, in effect, telling someone that you have done something that you have neither done nor have any intention of doing.
4. Can I forward a secure message without the permission of the original sender? On most systems within TI, you physically cannot forward, copy, or edit a secure message. But you certainly could reproduce the words for forwarding in several ways. Here, again, you must take into account the intent of the sender. Why did the sender choose to send the message secure? Am I violating the sender's trust and intent? Remember the quick test from above.
5. When I send a message and ask the receiver not to copy this message to others, is the recipient ethically bound to honor my request? Sharing any information that you have been asked to keep private (without permission of the sender) is inappropriate. There are obvious exceptions to this such as threats, criminal activity and other gray area activities that the Ethics Office can't help you decide on.