Almost
every user on the Internet sends and receives hundreds of emails on a
regular basis. However, only a handful of them know what is BCC and what
are the advantages of using BCC while sending an email.
If you are one such Internet user who is
unaware of what BCC is all about, then this is the post that you should
definitely read!
What is BCC?
BCC stands Blind Carbon Copy. It refers to the practice of sending an email to multiple recipients without disclosing the individual emails addresses.
While sending the same email/message to
multiple recipients, it is a common practice for most users to separate
the email addresses by using comma or semi-colon and insert all those
recipient addresses in the To: filed. When emails are
sent in this way, each receiver is able to see the complete list of all
the recipient email addresses to which the same message if being sent
to.
Unlike the To: field, the BCC: option on the other hand allows you to hide the recipients in email messages. In other words, when emails are sent using BCC:, the receiver will not be able to see the list of recipient email addresses. Thus, using BCC is a smart way to protect the privacy of the recipients.
Why should you use BCC?
Here are the reasons for using the BCC option:
Risk of Spammers: In order to avoid the risk of spammers, it is necessary that you encourage people/friends to use BCC:
while forwarding any message to you. This prevents your email address
from appearing in other person’s inbox thereby keeping yourself less
exposed to spammers. You may also refer How to Protect an Email Account from SPAM for more information on spamming.
While forwarding email messages, people
often do not bother to remove the list of previous recipients. As a
result, messages that are repeatedly sent to many recipients may contain
a long lists of email addresses. This makes it easy for the spammers to
collect and target those email IDs for spamming.
Protect the Privacy:
BCC provides an easy and simple option for protecting the privacy of
your recipients. Under many circumstances it is necessary for us to send
an email without letting the recipients know who else is receiving the
same message. Also, it is highly recommended that you use the BCC:
option while forwarding a joke or a funny email to a list of your
friends. If you are sending email on behalf of a business or
organization, it may be especially important to keep the list of
clients, members, or associates confidential. So, don’t forget to use BCC: option in those instances wherever privacy matters.
How to BCC an email message?
Most email clients provide the BCC: option under a few lines below the To: field. All you have to do is just enter the list of recipients in the BCC: field instead of entering the same in the To: field. You may leave the To: field blank or enter your own email address. Once you do this, just hit the Send button.
The moral is that you should use BCC: while sending bulk messages so as to protect the privacy of your recipients.
