Law Society Guidelines

[Nicholas Bohm]

The Law Society has published email guidelines for solicitors.  They are
available at <http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/gazetteinpractice/giplinksframe.asp>

The section on security may be of particular interest, and is set out below.

Regards,

Nicholas Bohm

Salkyns, Great Canfield,
Takeley, Bishop's Stortford CM22 6SX, UK

Phone		01279 871272	(+44 1279 871272)
Fax		01279 870215	(+44 1279 870215)
Mobile   	07715 419728	(+44 7715 419728)

PGP RSA 1024 bit public key ID: 0x08340015.  Fingerprint:
9E 15 FB 2A 54 96 24 37  98 A2 E0 D1 34 13 48 07
PGP DSS/DH 1024/3072 public key ID: 0x899DD7FF.  Fingerprint:
5248 1320 B42E 84FC 1E8B  A9E6 0912 AE66 899D D7FF

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Security

Principles

The Internet is an insecure medium. Messages may pass through the hands of
unregulated service providers; the networks used by the Internet are
vulnerable to hacking; and governments can undertake interception on a
substantial scale.

Guidance for solicitors using e-mail  

	Firms should not include confidential information in non-encrypted e-mail
without the informed consent of clients, whether corporate or individual.
In the case of individual clients, solicitors are advised to ensure that
their clients fully appreciate the risks being described above. [See note 2
to 16.02]. The latter can be ensured verbally or through e-mail
correspondence. 

Firms are recommended to adopt systems that:

(a)	provide the facility for retrieving (and automatically decrypting)
encrypted incoming mail; and

(b)	automatically encrypt all outgoing e-mail to those offering similar
facilities.

Firms should keep private cryptographic keys securely under their own
control. They should not rely on the use of encrypted communication links
for which service providers control the cryptographic keys.

Firm should be aware that encryption software using strong cryptography is
widely available, and that such software is available on the Internet free
for non-commercial use. This may enhance the willingness of clients to take
advantage of it.