I was in a restaurant at lunchtime and I overheard some people on a nearby table discussing their business plans. Papers which revealed the company's identity were lying on a chair. Had I been interested, I could have easily made notes and used them.
If this offends you, then I'm sorry, but people who do this sort of thing deserve to get written about. It might not have been a journalist, it might have been a competitor. Many's the tale I've heard of people travelling on a train or plane to bid for some business, only to hear their competitors running through their pitch strategy.
The fact is that if you are in a public place, you don't reveal confidential information.
Suppose you were attending an exhibition. You'd be 'on duty' most of your waking hours. That means the restaurant, the bar, the hotel are all 'on duty' locations. Journalists hate the press office and the official booth, they know they're going to get pitched to. They lurk around, yep, the bars, the restaurants, the hotel. Even the men's room (and no doubt women's too).
The aim is to get stories. And if they are ones that others have missed, all the better. If you remember the egg from earlier on, stay in the yolk. If you don't remember, then it means stick to what you're allowed to say. Keep away from secrets (the white) and speculation (the pan and beyond).
Other dangerous places are: company press parties; airport departure lounges; aeroplanes - a lot of people open laptops or read confidential documents there; the drinks following a press conference (we save our best questions for when we can get you alone). I could go on, but you get my drift.
Don't get paranoid but, equally, don't be stupid. If it's confidential, don't wave it around or talk about it in public.
What to do if you are really off duty? Say to the journalist, "sorry old chum, I'm on holiday (or whatever) - shall I call you when I'm back in the office?"
More anon.
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And imagine if you'd had your laptop open and were in a place with a wireless connection. And you had a blog.
Stretching it a bit re being in a restuarant, I know (yet I know some where it's not uncommon to see laptops on tables), but you could have quickly blogged a scoop.
I had a similar experience at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam last week. The airport terminal is wireless everywhere. Sitting having a coffee in a crowded coffee bar. I had my laptop on. Guy next to me with papers out, all with his company name (interesting company) and by swivelling my eyes a bit, I could read a lot of what he had there. I have a blog. I didn't write anything, but I could have and posted it there and then. Not very smart (of him).
There is no privacy in any public area these days.
Posted by: Neville Hobson | March 09, 2005 at 08:33 AM
This is close to the area which is so exercising the court with the Apple case. A journalist and a blogger see the same papers open. Both write about it.
We can't have a situation where one is punished and the other not.
Posted by: David Tebbutt | March 09, 2005 at 09:10 AM
Re: the Apple case. The judge wisely decided not to try and differentiate between bloggers and journalists. Instead, he focused his judgement on the illegality of the material which was re-published.
Of course this opens a whole new can of worms about what constitutes 'legal'.
I have discussed this here.
Posted by: David Tebbutt | March 25, 2005 at 07:15 PM
"And imagine if you'd had your laptop open and were in a place with a wireless connection." (Neville Hobson)
I think Neville's comment raises a big issue in this debate. We are living in a society where we can't seem to switch off from work. There are so many demands on our time that we need to work on planes (as in this case: http://www.itjournalist.com/LUNA/main.php ) or restaurants or airports. How do we reconcile the need for privacy when we are often forced to work in very non-private environments, and have the technology to do so?
Posted by: Andy | March 30, 2005 at 01:41 PM
I guess vigilance is the answer. Back to the wall, maybe one of those gizmos over the screen that stop people reading it from an angle.
Two more true tales:
Sitting next to an IBM strategist on a plane bound for San Francisco, he asked me what I did. I wrestled with my conscience and confessed I was a journalist. "Not IT I hope?" "I'm afraid so." "Darn it, I was planning to work on the plane."
He proceeded to fill me with beer (he knew the first class stewards although we were in coach.) Eventually, I'd had enough and shut my eyes. I heard the 'ping' as his computer started up, and started to read the screen. He must have sensed I was looking. The lid was slammed and he got nothing done.
We went on to become good friends and I got the inside track on some IBM research and picked up some training work as well.
The other story was again on an aeroplane. This time it was someone from Hewlett Packard. He opened his laptop, I read the screen with interest. He said "are you reading my screen?" I said, "yes". He tilted it so it was facing away from me.
I reclined my seat and was able to continue reading.
Although he knew I was looking, he continued to work. At no point did he ask me to declare my interest.
Although it was confidential information, I did nothing with it. But I could have done.
Posted by: David Tebbutt | March 30, 2005 at 02:22 PM