Shun Web services, you simply can't control the data?


Use Web services only when you have specific, confidentiality and reliability guaranteeing service level agreements?


Use Web services liberally, but acquaint yourself with the applicable terms of use and make sure clients are amenable?

1. Blog. I suspect that companies pursuing their own blogging initiatives in addition to implementing policies intended to cover unsanctioned employee blogs will run into fewer problems with employee mistakes or misunderstandings. This is because the management and culture throughout the organization is bound to better grasp the process and related security and compliance issues. IMO, the best "training" occurs by example and widespread use.
2. Breathe. As I've pontificated here before, there's a pretty good case to be made that blogs and their ilk are actually the least risky form of corporate communication. If a company adequately gets across the reasons it expects certain employee conduct with regard to external communications, confidential information, and technology use, blogs, etc. are at least as "safe" as email and the phone; in fact, because people are more likely to understand up front these technologies are designed to accomplish wide and persistent information distribution, people are more likely to approach their use with caution and respect.
3. Mix. Organizations need to make sure their P.R./marketing and legal arms are communicating about how employees should be relaying work related information to third parties or the world at large, and they need to have an open-eyed appreciation of all the ways people might be or are using technology to do so. Brace yourself: P.R. and legal goals just might compete. Management needs to understand those conflicts and decide what resolution best fits what they're trying to accomplish (and what the law insists they accomplish).

A story on the ComputerWorld website reports that Miller Brewing has touched off some controversy by sending follow-up emails to the "real" email addresses of people who register with "throw-away" email addresses. Some describe it as a little eerie or feeling a little like being stalked. I'm wondering if there might be a business model in providing a service that eventually reaches you at a good email address as you change, forget and move through a variety of email addresses.

I'll let you decide how creepy this story seems to you.

The detective efforts of the people involved are noteworthy for giving you excellent practical tips for digging for this type of information.

Another reason to institute some email training.

It definitely raises an important question: are we doing our best thinking while we are in front of the computer?