How responsible are you for letting someone know you are receiving information you really shouldn’t be receiving?

That’s what a reader we’re calling Norman wrote to ask. For several years, Norman served on the board of a not-for-profit agency. More than four years ago, Norman stepped down from the board. He left on good terms and remains in touch occasionally with the people running the not-for-profit.

“It was a great experience,” Norman wrote, “but I knew I wouldn’t miss the regular meetings along with the slew of Emails we received as board members to enable us to complete our work.”

It took a few months for Norman to stop receiving emails sent to current board members. Finally, it seemed like his name was off the routing list, but every few months it seems to creep back on.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” wrote Norman, “since it’s simple enough to ignore, although occasionally a meeting they’ve invited me to ends up on my online calendar.” That too is not a major burden, Norman wrote, as long as he remembers he doesn’t actually have that meeting to attend. (He could delete the entry if he wanted to.)

What concerns Norman, however, is he doesn’t know whether the person sending out the meeting invites or sharing information via email knows he is receiving the emails. He also doesn’t know whether others who shouldn’t be on the email routing list are receiving them as well.

“So far, nothing seems all that confidential or sensitive in the emails I’ve received,” he wrote. “But what if something more sensitive does get sent out or a document gets shared with people like me who shouldn’t be getting them?”

The Errant Emails Arrive sporadically and without any warning, according to Norman. He’s not sure why he gets some and why he doesn’t get others. He also knows he could simply ignore the emails and delete them.

But he wondered how much responsibility he has to let someone at the not-for-profit know he is receiving the information.

Since none of the information Norman has received is neither confidential nor anything he or someone else couldn’t get from looking at the not-for-profit’s website, Norman likely could just ignore the occasional emails and delete them.

But if he is indeed concerned about the not-for-profit inadvertently running into problems down the road if the errant email practice continues, the right thing is for Norman to simply forward an email onto one of his former contacts at the not-for-profit to let them know he’s receiving email he shouldn’t be receiving.

The right thing for the not-for-profit would be to make sure only intended recipients receive the emails they are sending out. It’s not enough to just take Norman’s email off and be done with it. After that’s done, they should set up a policy of removing emails from routing lists as soon as a person’s official role is severed.

Norman should be able to rest easy that his old associates are being more careful with their communications and that anyone receiving emails from them should have.

Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of "The Simple Art of Business Etiquette: How to Rise to the Top by Playing Nice," is a senior lecturer in public policy, emeritus, at Harvard's Kennedy School. He is also the administrator of www.jeffreyseglin.com, a blog focused on ethical issues.

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