Blind copy on emails, useful or sneaky?

[susans]

Is there an appropriate time to use blind copy on email, or is it something that is considered sneaky? How often do you use bbc?

[gee4]

I don't think it's really necessary but obviously some people still use it.  You need to be careful when using this just in case the original person the email is to, gets knowledge the email is being bcc'd to someone else.

Personally I don't see the point myself.

[JessW]

I used to use it so that bossy would 'know' I was working, doing his chores, covering up his bad planning, making it look like he was at work but had delegated distribution of whatever to me, etc, plus it also meant he had a copy on his palm pilot just in case stuff was referred to in meetings and the like, rather than having to say he would refer to the files.

Also, when sending out an email that you don't want all the recipients to see who else is getting the email, I thought the only way was to use the bcc option (or similar!)?! I may, however, be wrong.

[chikky]

The only time we use "bcc" is when sending out a message to an entire department or the the entire company.  If you work for a company that has 20,000 employees, you do not want 30 or more page listing  of the receipients.

[laurafmcdermott]

I am usually the recipient of bc.  My current duties include HR, so when a manager has email communication with an employee following up on performance or attendance issues, they bc me so I am in the loop.  I suppose it is "sneaky", but necessary.

[panther_g0ddess]

I'm like Chikki.  I regularly send emails out to mass addresses and many of which are not inter-company emails.  Naturally we need to keep everyone else's email addresses as private as we can.

[msmarieh]

I don't consider it sneaky at all. I think there are a number of excellent reasons to use bcc.

I use it to keep my boss informed on occasion.

I use it to protect the identity of the recipients.

I use it to keep others notified (such as admins) when needed.

Marie

[gee4]

Chikky and Panther, don't you use a distribution group for sending company emails?

[Cathy S]

I use it on occasion when my boss needs to see I have communicated a specific message but showing him as copied in could dilute the message (ie folks need to think the message comes from me in my role, rather than on behalf of him).

The other time I use it is to send myself a copy of an e-mail I want to follow-up on - I'd rather BCC myself than have everyone thinking I am going nuts and sending the e-mail to myself!  If I used Outlook I would use the Journal for this but I have to use GroupWise which is not so user friendly - although it has a neat checklist facility at the top of my mail folder so I can drag the BCC'd e-mail to the list and set priorities/dates for me to follow-up.

[spitfire78]

I do not think of it as sneaky at all.  I think it can be a useful tool.  I rarely use it, but when I do it is usually for a reason.  I just used it last week because I wanted the other admin here to know about an issue that might arise in a day or so, just on the off chance that I was not here that day.  I did not want the parties to know that she knew what was going on unless something arose and I was not here.  It was not being sneaky or breaking confidentiality.  I had an issue with someone here wanting to reserve a conference room and instead of following proper procedure ended up involving a whole bunch of people unnecessarily.  I wanted the other admin to be aware of the situation, so if anything came up the day of the meeting and I happened to not be around, she would know what was going on.  On the other hand, I didn't want the e-mail recipient to know this other admin knew about it because she had already created a ruckus and run around to half a dozen other people already.

[raejg]

I never used to use it, but have started to use bc for certain things. For example, I send out a monthly "tax alert" to our clients. The first time I sent it, I put all the email addy's in the To field. Well, clients called and asked that I use bc so that none of the other people on the mailing list would see their address.