Reuters reports:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said a contractor emailed confidential client data to a stranger's Gmail account by mistake, and the bank has asked a U.S. judge to order Google Inc to delete the email to avert a "needless and massive" breach of privacy.
The breach occurred on June 23 and included "highly confidential brokerage account information," Goldman said in a complaint filed last Friday in a New York state court in Manhattan.
Ars Technica reports:
At the request of investment bank Goldman Sachs, Google has blocked access to a sensitive e-mail that the bank mistakenly sent to a random Gmail account. Google confirmed to Goldman Sachs that the e-mail had not yet been opened by the recipient, according to a report late Wednesday from Reuters.
The e-mail in question, filled with confidential brokerage account information, was accidentally sent to a gmail.com address instead of a gs.com address by a contractor on June 23. Goldman Sachs tried to contact the e-mail account holder and then got in touch with Google, which initially said it would not take action without a court order. Goldman Sachs then filed for such a court order in a New York state court.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 05 2014, @12:11AM
...It's not even funny.
End-to-end email encryption - But that requires an external
program like PGP or GPG to do this and it is cumbersome and
potentially error prone.
In-house private https webmail system - Read your messages
securely anywhere in the world with just an internet connection
and a webbrowser. This is probably the best solution. Then
send an SMS message to their cellphone to log in
and check their messages in the webmail system. NO URL or
email address is sent to avoid phishing.
Call them up on the phone and ask them to come down
to the office to meet and tell them the message in person.
See, no security leaks in case the wrong party is contacted.
However, this doesn't cover negligence or malice on the part
of the operators of such systems for the benefits of their
clients/customers.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 05 2014, @01:14AM
Or don't permit attachments: all files belong on a document sharing server that can enforce access restrictions (and provide collaboration tools). That would probably take a giant load off the e-mail servers too.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by anubi on Saturday July 05 2014, @12:16AM
Makes me wonder. Maybe that document needs to be reviewed by an independent court ( with civilian jury ) to see if the warrant is justified.
If it contains "insider trading" info, seems to me a subpoena on all communications going in and out of that company is called for.
If it was a private communication which was nothing more than someone's financial transaction, then I feel they are justified in at least asking to have it removed.
By now, I almost guarantee you the "Streisand Effect" is in fullbore motion, and the recipient of that email is probably sitting on several thousand dollars worth of text if sold to the press. Even if it contained nothing of value to anyone else, the whole world is now curious of just what was in that email, being Goldman Sachs has done so much legal horseplay over it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday July 05 2014, @03:26AM
I think that should have been absolutely required. The minimum bar is that the judge has seen the content in question, verified the email on the account *was* the content in question. Preferably accomplished with an independent consultant hired by the court to carry out the judges order.
Otherwise, this is just Goldman Sachs removing content from the Internet just because they can. That's a level of inequality that just pushes it too far for me. How above the law and disconnected from reality to these people get to be?
It would be one thing if they went to the moon and back or were offering something concrete to society. As it is, they are just criminals and parasites wrt the US economic system.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by davester666 on Saturday July 05 2014, @06:09AM
The warrant hasn't been issued. Google has voluntarily decided that they will prevent the recipient from being able to retrieve it.
Just like the postman will return to your house, remove it from your mailbox and then hide it at the local post office because the sender claims it was addressed incorrectly and had very sensitive contents.
Totally normal and above board.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday July 05 2014, @09:38AM
Dave:
When I look again at it... you have a far better outlook.
When I saw references to the bankers and their lawyers and one of them had their proverbial tit in the wringer, the first thing that came to my mind is "throw the book at 'em" - without much even considering what it was. Usually racial hatred starts up this way, but your reply made me recognize the same thing in myself.. albeit it wasn't a race I am subconsciously pissed off at - rather it is the bankers.
I have seen them seem to get their way, no matter what, and I was almost in glee seeing them have their hour of despair, like many people caught up in their shenanigans have also had their hour ( actually quite a few hours ) of despair. Ultimately, with the help of Congress, only the bankers could print their way out of their grief and get their bonuses anyway.
Well, anyway, that's the reason for the animosity, but as you illustrated to me with your reply, that animosity also leads to poor judgement on my part. I have got to get over stuff like that. I have also made some pretty poor choices at the polls due to my distrust and animosity toward anyone who seems friendly with the bankerboys.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Saturday July 05 2014, @10:09AM
The company which tried to put a ceiling on software developers' salaries bailed out the company that outsourced sensitive development to get it done on the cheap.
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)