Email Forwards: Invasion of Privacy?

Is it an invasion of privacy to email someone with out their permission by using their email address cut from a forwarded email sent to you from a mutual acquaintance?

Yes it is! The first mistake here is that whomever sent that forwarded e-mail should have put all their contact’s e-mail addresses in the BCc: field rather than expose all those e-mail addresses to strangers. By doing so they were the first to invade the privacy of their contacts by publicly displaying their email addresses.

It would also depend on what you are emailing them about and what you mean by mutual acquaintance. If you met this person that is one thing. If you the only thing you have in common is that you both know the sender but not each other, it is not recommended. Understand the issue here is you have an email address that was not provided to you by its owner and you need to govern yourself accordingly when thinking of using it.

If you are emailing about something you can commercially gain from you definitely should not email this “acquaintance.” If it is about something personal, then I would start the email with an reminder greeting about how/when you met and a “hope you don’t mind if I email you…” type of statement.

That said, don’t be surprised if they do not appreciate getting an email from someone they don’t know regardless of who you both know in common. I have an article about the Email Etiquette involved in using the BCc: field for your reading pleasure.

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