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An Analysis Of Email Disclaimers

Posted by timothy on from the by-reading-this-you-agree-to-send-your-sister dept.

akintayo writes "Recently more amd more organisations have required email sent from their accounts to contain an attached disclaimer. This disclaimer is supposed to describe the recipient's rights to 'use' that email. This slate article analyzes the legality and impact of one such disclaimer, and finds it somewhat lacking."

14 of 334 comments (clear)

  1. Limit this crap to four lines... by garcia · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I consider a 100+ word message at the bottom of an email spam. Most emails are a sentence or two. What the hell do I need another 100+ words tacked on the end for? Shouldn't we have some sort of mandate similar to Usenet signatures? That said...

    It may be legally privileged and/or confidential and is intended only for the use of the addressee(s).

    If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized disclosure, dissemination, distribution, copying or the taking of any action in reliance on the information herein is strictly prohibited.

    If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this message.

    Now, while the lawyer notes that they are only asking you to do these things I see another flaw... If the document wasn't intended for the use by the addressee the rest of the notice is moot. It's up to the sender to guarantee that the message is delivered to the correct John.Doe@yahoo.com. I don't see how I would have to follow any of that if a) I didn't sign it and b) I am not the person they intended anyway.

    No addressee should forward, print, copy, or otherwise reproduce this message in any manner that would allow it to be viewed by any individual not originally listed as a recipient.

    If I am sent it incorrectly I am not allowed to look at it anyway. It doesn't make sense.

    Then again IANAL :)

    1. Re:Limit this crap to four lines... by Nobody+You+Know · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Actually, if you aren't the intended recipient, the notice itself prohibits you from doing what it requests.

      If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that...the taking of any action in reliance on the information herein is strictly prohibited.

      It then tells you:

      If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this message.

      Wouldn't notifying the sender be taking an action based on the information contained therein, and thus be expressly prohibited?

    2. Re:Limit this crap to four lines... by haystor · · Score: 5, Funny

      I like the ones that tell you to delete all copies of the message. Is that implicit permission to access their mail servers for deletion?

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      t
  2. Mail User License Agreement by Clinoti · · Score: 5, Interesting
    There is also the fine line between culpability and fair use once the message is out in the fields, unless the sending method is sent by a secured source to a trusted source, the email is free and wild. With the amount of sniffing and man in the middle attacks primed and waiting in the background on the internet it would be foolish to think otherwise.

    One of the reasons a lot of companies automatically put the disclaimers / nonsense on the bottom of the email is that it provides them with somewhat of a means of liability protection from information that was sent or processed from their systems, lets not also forget the confidentiality or rather the breaches of, that email allow to happen so frequently and readily.

    Lastly, later if heaven forbid (!) a scandal hits the office involving a lower or sometimes high level employee, emails (which like any segment of a well defined network) may be called up from archives for an investigation internally or externally in a court of law. Stating the MULA on the bottom of correspondence, while generally accepted in people_to_people terms as fodder, is actually a wise move for a corporation to show its partners, employees, and potential revenue sources the fact that they place internal memos and all communications in the same manner that they would (as any entity with a sense of self preservation) deem a legal document.

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    Let's keep in mind that patents are in place to keep lawyers employed and keep them litigating. -CatGrep

    1. Re:Mail User License Agreement by clamantis · · Score: 5, Informative

      As one who negotiates NDAs for a major corporation, I have advised clients that these "disclaimers" are inappropriate in negotiation. You can't dictate the terms of a confidentiality agreement in an e-mail sig, but only in an agreement duly signed by both parties. Even click-and-accept agreements like EULAs are not recognized in some countries, and so we have to insist on signed paper in those cases. (eg: http://articles.corporate.findlaw.com/articles/fil e/00051/005095/title/Subject/topic/Intellectual%20 Property%20Law_Licensing/filename/intellectualprop ertylaw_1_239 ) We do not use disclaimers like this on e-mails, although attorneys advise that their messages should be considered atty-client privilege if marked confidential. And in those cases, they should never be forwarded outside the company. Point is if you're really serious about electronic data getting into the wrong hands, don't use unencrypted e-mail. If you're concerned about improper use by the intended recipient, don't send the info without a non-disclosure agreement.

  3. Dumbest disclaimer? by BabyDave · · Score: 5, Funny

    "If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message unread"

    Of course, it was at the bottom of the e-mail.

  4. If you have received this message in error... by ebh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...then I will consider it an unsolicited gift from you, with which I will do whatever I want.

    IOW, tacking a too-bad-if-you-looked legal threat to the end of your email does not establish any sort of contract between us.

  5. There is a much older Ressource ... by Sweetshark · · Score: 5, Informative

    about this here. And it also has a collection of stupid disclaimers ..

  6. stupid disclaimers by colinleroy · · Score: 5, Funny

    IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although the yorkshire terrier next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft: However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites and place it in a warm oven for 40 minutes. Whisk briefly and let it stand for 2 hours before icing.
    (Lifted from http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/)

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    blah
  7. HIPAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've seen this mostly as a way to comply with HIPAA. HIPAA, governing confidentiality of medical information, doesn't mean you actually have to be secure, just that you have to take reasonable security measures. Many nonprofits have taken this to mean they can send whatever they want via e-mail as long as they tack a disclaimer onto the end. Of course, it's completely ridiculous, but everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't we jump off that cliff too?

  8. Legal != Sensible by drdanny_orig · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The author makes one unfortunate assumption, IMO. Whether or not such disclaimers make sense is immaterial. If a court finds them binding, they are binding. And remember, judges are just lawyers with state-approved uniforms.

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    .nosig
  9. Email to govt in Texas becomes public record. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here in Texas whenever you send an email to a state or local government official, it automatically constitutes a public record, regardless of any disclaimers attached, and is subject to the state's open records availablility and record retention laws.

  10. Official Celebrity Disclaimers by platypibri · · Score: 5, Funny

    Britany Spears-"Opps, I sent it again."
    Michael Jackson-"This message is inteneded for receipients 12 and under. Otherwise please disregard without reading."
    George W. Bush -"Any email from Iraq will be considered a WMD, weapon of mass dissemination, and will be immediately acted upon with extreme prejudice"
    Tony Blair-"Whatever George said."
    James Earl Jones-"Will do any film for $9999.95."
    George Lucas-"Any message sent from this server can be freely used as a plot device in an upcoming special effects driven feature without any additional payment. Besides, it may make Episode III better." Bill Clinton-"I never said that." Bill Gates -"Cross us an we will crush you, unless it gets press, which nets you an X-Box for the crushing."

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    Yeah, I guess I'm funny like that.
  11. My disclaimer by T3kno · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is an email. It is the electronic equivalent of a POSTCARD. It has been split up into hundreds or thousands packets and blasted throughout the globe. Logged, scanned, filtered, parsed, grepped and heuristically analyzed by countless computers as well as humans. I wear a shirt that says "I read your email." If you for one moment think, believe, hold notion, or otherwise have the slightest inclination that anything you send via email is confidential you are an idiot. If you for one moment think, believe, hold notion, or otherwise have the slightest inclination that anything you send via email is only being read by the intended reciepients you are an idiot. If you have read this far you are an idiot.

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    (B) + (D) + (B) + (D) = (K) + (&)