The Internet is an extremely public place! Just because you are in
contact with someone, or doing something you cannot assume that noone
is observing. The rights of individuals is an important area for discussion
at present but we are far from a solution. These are some guidelines which
might help:
Remember that many sessions in MOOs
are logged and that they may be published as hypertext on the WWW.
Anything published on the Net/Web is immediately distributed
to thousands of people.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
Do NOT reveal any details about yourself that you would not like
made public (e.g. in a newspaper). If you reveal where you live and what
your lifestyle is you could regret it.
Your employer may not mind your involvement in this course or related
activities, but might not wish it to be known who you work for.
On the other hand, if you are doing this in your employer's time
and on their equipment you will be seen as an employee whether you
wish it or not, so you should take care how you are perceived.
There are no hiding places on the Web. Indexing robots, worms and
spiders visit every page that is not password-protected and catalogue
them.
If you hold lists of details about people you may have to comply with
data protection laws in some countries. There may be a legal requirement
to notify an appropriate body, quite apart from the relationship with the
person whose data you hold.
pmr for pps