Use BCC for group emails-Truth!

Use the “BCC” Function on Emails to Protect People’s Email Addresses and Names from Strangers-Truth!

Summary of eRumor:
A warning is issued about sending or forwarding emails to others that have an accumulation of other people’s email addresses on it.  It is suggested that the “BCC” (Blind carbon copy) feature of email programs be used when you want to send an email to a group of people.  This is followed by a lengthy story of a woman who became entangled with a stalker who had connected with her by seeing her screen name on an email.

 
The Truth:


We don’t know whether the story about the woman and the stalker is real, but the point of this email is a good one.  When you send an email to more than one recipient, it is common to put the additional email addresses in the “CC” (carbon copy) window.  When the email is sent, all of those email addresses and any names associated with them are visible to all the recipients.  For those who don’t want their email addresses to be known, that is a problem.  If the number of additional recipients is very large, it also creates a lot of clutter in the message.   It is better to use the “BCC” (blind carbon copy) feature because even though the email will still be sent to all the recipients, the only name visible at the top of the email will be the person to whom it was addressed.  Although it’s rare for email addresses to attract stalkers, it is common for email addresses to accidentally be passed into the hands of those who the owner of the address would rather not have it.