To report, or not? Ethical and Legal dilemma.

[drachillix]

@Valgard

I do computer support work and often see what is stored on folks’ personal directories so this isn’t a hypothetical situation for me.

Ditto here and in my case I am an outside service rather than an in house IT person. Several people have commented that they maybe, sometimes, accidentally wander into a porn site and not to freak out. Several said noting and had tons of porn. Anyone who mentions it I tell them what you do with your PC is none of my business and stays that way unless I stumble across child porn or evidence of a major felony (kidnapping, murder, bank robbery, terrorism, etc).

I have found home porn, that was kinda freaky. Said he wanted his pics saved, opened a folder and the preview popped and my first thought was…that looks like the guy that just dropped…off…this :eek:

In my case I would not only feel ethically obligated to report child porn but its great good PR for my biz when the news crews show up to interview me .

[Valgard]

@Hail Ants

I’m not sure how relevant this is to this particular discussion, but I feel its worth mentioning.

As reprehensible as kiddie porn is, or perhaps because so, but also because of the vast increase in accessible porn in general (via the internet) I feel a person should err on the side of caution when considering ‘reporting’ this kind of thing. Because, right or wrong, there is no single crime that is more tainting, more ‘guilty by association’ than child molestation. And possessing kiddie porn is just viewed as molestation by proxy. It is literally thought of as even worse than murder. Even than serial murder.

My point is that even, or especially, with kiddie porn the ends cannot justify the means because there is always a chance, often a very large chance, that things are not what they seem. But once you open that can of worms, it cannot ever, ever be unopened. No matter if it is later proven, 100%, beyond the slightest doubt, that the person was completely innocent, their career, their family, their life will be ruined merely by the accusation.

I do agree, and that’s why I’d turn the problem over to the folks who handle confidential matters (as opposed to telling all my coworkers “Hey, look at what I found on Jane’s PC!!!”). That’s the same department that handles all kinds of stuff including breaches of confidentiality, drug problems, all kinds of personal problems and other such private stuff. I trust them to do their jobs correctly.

However I also think that for the same reason people should really err on the side of caution when deciding what links to click at work. IT can look at everything you do, every site you visit, every picture on the network, etc (we don’t, there’s real work to do, but we can if required) - it’s work, not home and it’s not private!

The fact that something naughty but legal could result in workplace embarassment, uncomfortable conversations with a boss/HR or even a visit by the gendarmes is a good enough reason to hold off looking at adult stuff until you are at home.

[ouryL]

Haven’t read the complete article I agreed with the column-it’s a case for either the HR Dept or the IT’s superiors. It’s not like porn hasn’t been found on computers before.

[Wee_Bairn]

Can’t an IT person pull up the specific pages and view the pics? If it is borderline (hot horny high school girls) I wouldn’t say anything. If it is clearly pictures of children, there is no defense. Someone did it, maybe not the computer owner, but someone did it, it is a crime, and should be checked out by the authorities, not the head IT guy.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@drachillix

…In my case I would not only feel ethically obligated to report child porn but its great good PR for my biz when the news crews show up to interview me .

Or maybe not. You might find that potential customers are a lot more reluctant to hire you, for fear of showing up on the 11 o’clock news.

I usually agree with Cohen’s “The Ethicist” column, but not always, and certainly not this time, for the reasons Eonwe stated.