Don’t Brush Off Email Privacy

Do you unknowingly show a blatant disregard for your contact’s privacy? For example, do you send group emails with long lists of addresses visible in the To or Cc fields? For some of those addresses, is the only thing they have in common is you?

Guard Contacts’ Privacy

Security concerns are something all businesses need to seriously consider in everything they do. Including business email communications.

We’ve all had this happen. We receive messages or forwarded emails from business contacts. We then notice that we are listed alongside a long list of recipients in the To or Cc fields of people we don’t know. By doing this, our email addresses are exposed to strangers.

Some have said this is “no big deal” because business emails are public. Therefore, no harm, no foul. To them, I ask: Do you want your email address exposed to people you don’t know?

Another excuse I’ve been given is, “we all want as much exposure for our businesses that we can get, right?” Wrong. This assumes that exposing your contacts’ email addresses to strangers benefits your business. I wouldn’t count on that.

This is Not Your Decision to Make

Email addresses are a bit different in that spam starts flowing in once they are circulated. All of our addresses are farmed and sold every day — that doesn’t mean we contribute to the volume of spam that hits our contacts’ inboxes.

Of course, this doesn’t include meetings, agendas, plans, or collaboration emails. Where a handful of folks need to know who is involved, this approach makes sense. They have either spoken by phone or know the group involved in the mailing from previous conversations.

Exposing contact information without permission is not proper email etiquette or business courtesy. That’s a big business no-no if you want to build trust.

As a general guideline, when you have a long list of contacts, use the BCc. This keeps your email professional in appearance and avoids the risk of unappreciated exposure.

Issues of Concern

Your contacts most likely do not appreciate having their addresses shared with people they do not know without their permission. Because they haven’t said anything to you doesn’t mean it’s untrue.

Those who have been on the receiving end by being included in a list of visible emails have two issues of concern:

Do not assume you can contact visible addresses about unrelated issues, topics, or ventures just because the sender makes those addresses visible (due to not respecting everyone’s privacy) in an email.

When sending to a group of business onliners, put your email address in the To field and your list of addresses in the BCc field to protect those email addresses from unnecessary exposure.

Where is the BCc?

Many users report not knowing where to find the BCc in their email programs. There’s an article for that…

In the email program I use, I can easily select the BCc field from a drop-down menu to enter email addresses. (Although, to be honest, I don’t even remember the last time I did so.)

Stop right now and search for BCc in the help area of your webmail or check your software provider’s online knowledge base, so you know where and how to use BCc on future group mailings.

Protecting your contacts’ privacy is something they will undoubtedly appreciate. This strengthens your business’s trust factor and helps build long-term partnerships. Wherever BCc may hide, find it, and use it!