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November 06, 2006
Reasons for a Shredder
Kind of interesting. Usually we think of health privacy as applying to patients, not physicians, but here is an example of the reverse.
Some gynecologist or family member pitched a lifetime of saved papers (hopefully when he retired, but we don't know), and an artist snatched the whole pile from the trash to catalog and reprint.
Monoian, Elizabeth. The Life of One Man as Found in the Garbage. LOST Magazine, no.10, November 2006. URL: http://www.lostmag.com/issue10/garbage.php
Posted by pfa at November 6, 2006 08:52 AM
Comments
Wow. That's facinating, yet terrifying.
Posted by: gmayman at November 6, 2006 01:30 PM
I wonder whether there is liability involved--a civil suit, etc., when one does dumpster diving and then publishes something like this? /anna
Posted by: schnitzr at November 8, 2006 10:35 AM
I am a BIG fan of cop shows, and in that setting, anyways, things disposed of in dumpsters can be used as evidence. The next question might be, who put the stuff there?
Very poignant. Reminds me of papers I have which belonged to my father and uncle.
Posted by: pmartin at November 8, 2006 11:35 AM
To answer Anna's question:
If I remember correctly from taking a Constitutional Law class, once you toss something in the trash, you're making it available for anyone to use as he or she wishes (which, as Pat said, allows law enforcement to use those things as evidence without violating search & seizure laws). If there is liability, I think it would fall on the person who threw the information away.
Do any of you remember reading a few years ago about information (literally) floating around campus? I think they were applications for admissions.
What about the artist? What do you think of the action of taking the trash and then publishing it?
Posted by: wheelerh at November 10, 2006 08:48 AM
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