New technologies generate their own customs and ethics, frequently after heated debate in the public prints – for example, it is a generally accepted courtesy that people queing at an automatic teller machine keep their distance from the one using it: the facsimile machine has wrought a wondrous transformation in our business life and achieves many beneficial things, but the one thing nobody would claim for it is that missives received on it will be seen only by the named recipient, so we raised an eyebrow or two at a fax that came through yesterday forlornly stating on the cover sheet the contents of this fax are private.
Content from our partners
