Here is a hypothetical situation I get asked about quite often. Let’s say someone has something of interest (usually of interest only to those who e-mail me this type of question) to share with all those names/e-mail addresses visibly displayed in the To: field. Even if you don’t know these folks would it be improper to send an e-mail to any of them with your comments or about your business?
Yes, it would be improper. These contacts do not know you. You are a stranger who they did not ask for your opinion or comments. If you contact them about your business — that would be spam.
Just because your friend didn’t respect their contacts privacy by displaying e-mail addresses in To: field (instead of protecting those addresses by properly listing them in the BCc: field) does not give anyone listed tacit permission to e-mail the others. No matter how important you personally feel your advice or information is, only reply to the Sender. Never use Reply to All.
If you do not know these folks and/or are trying to sell them something they didn’t specifically ask you for — that’s spam. No matter how noble or important you think the topic is, you simply do not e-mail folks you do not know. Period.
Even if the content in the e-mail is questionable, a hoax or something you feel the others must know– only reply to the Sender. Strongly suggest that they not only use the BCc: field on future communications, but that they let the others on their list know about what you feel is so important.
The bottom line? Don’t Brush Off Privacy!
No related posts.
About Judith
Loading ...![[Take The Email Etiquette Pledge]](http://www.emailetiquettepledge.com/ee-rev-medium.jpg)
![[Email Etiquette Made Easy!]](http://www.netmanners.com/images/email-etiquette-made-easy-100.jpg)
That’s impolite. If I have these friend or partner, I will not contact with them.
Hey, Doddy:
You bet it is impolite! With that said, 99% of those who do this don’t know any better. They do so with good intentions and are not aware of the privacy considerations that they should be thinking about. If you run into a friend or partner who does this, send them to this site so that they can then be aware of and integrate this new found info into their day to day e-mail communications. Send them to this article that covers it all: Don’t Brush Off E-mail Privacy.
If after being made aware of this serious issue, they ignore and continue on with that type of irresponsible behavior, I too would consider whether I wanted to communicate with them in the future.
Thanks for stopping by!