Caution: Double-Edged Sword

Click on image to clarify

Anyone can file a request at UC under the California Public Records Act to see emails, etc., on any subject. There are some exceptions about what will be disclosed.

The problem - particularly if the filer is also a UC employee - is that there could be a similar request, tit for tat, for the filer's emails. Potentially a double-edged sword. 

In the past, this tactic has been used to harass faculty such as climate scientists in the hopes of discrediting their work or finding something - perhaps out of context - that seems embarrassing. But typically, the filers are from outside groups.

A UCLA faculty member sent me a copy of such a request recently filed by a faculty member at Merced. So this is one faculty member harassing another - not a good look.

Advice from yours truly: Email in particular should not be viewed as "private." Don't put anything in an email that you might regret disclosing. Even apart from formal Public Records requests, emails can be forwarded hither and yon, intentionally or accidentally.

Further advice: If a UC faculty member wants information from another UC faculty member, maybe - you know - just pick up the phone and have, like, a conversation. Just a thought...