This message is for all you folks out there who insist on sending me email messages that have my address in the To: field, right smack in the middle of a long list of your other contacts' names and email addresses. I'm not keen on having my email address published at random, regardless whether or not you trust the other people you're sending to, and they probably aren't, either.

You might think that it's not a big deal, but when you send a group e-mail without using BCC, it's usually not just going to be seen by the people you send it to. They will send it to their friends, and they will send it to their friends, and it goes on and on until all of those e-mail addresses get in the hands of 'evil doers.' Then our e-mail boxes get filled with tons of unwanted e-mails including those tricky e-mails designed to get your credit card number and other personal information.

As others have said many times before, treat e-mail addresses like they are private phone numbers. Don't ever give out another person's e-mail address without his or her permission. That includes filling out forms at web sites that encourage you to 'tell a friend.'

(from Your E-Mail Responsibility - Possible Truth)

I don't know most/all of the other people you sent the offending email message to, and I would prefer not to see my email address glaring at me 3 forwards deep on some piece of crapmail one day. Please don't take the fact that I sent you this personally, just learn from it. Anyone who does this to me is going to receive the same response that you're reading right now. It's important. I'm tired of spam. I still love you, I promise.

Stephanie

Use BCC field when addressing mass mail
(from Use BCC)

PLEASE READ and become a better E-mail user. This information is intended not only to make you a neater "E-mailer" but one that is more considerate and more thoughtful... Your friends will be thankful.

Would you write your friends' phone numbers on the walls of public places? If you answer no, then why would you share their private E-mail addresses with a group of strangers, many of whom will CARELESSLY forward the same addresses to even more strangers? Don't do it! Instead, use the BCC feature of your E-mail program.

BCC means Blind Carbon Copy. It is a way of addressing mail to more than one person so that everyone's address is not displayed for all to see. Every E-mail program (including the free, web-based E-mail services) allow you to address messages using BCC, in other words, to "BCC" one or more recipients. Some require that you provide at least ONE address in the TO: field. If this is the case, place YOUR OWN address in the TO: field and all your recipients' addresses in the BCC field.

WHY:

• Using BCC protects your recipients' E-mail addresses from being spread to strangers.
• Using BCC helps prevent SPAM (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail)
• When using BCC, messages will be easier on your readers because they will be smaller, with fewer addresses on each message.
• They will download faster and will use less bandwidth.
• Using BCC shows your consideration of others by not publishing hundreds of your friends' addresses to strangers and potentially, SPAMMERS or maybe even stalkers.

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How to BCC:

• AOL does not have a dedicated BCC field. To send mail via BCC, place addresses and screen names in the CC field surrounded by parentheses. For example: (billyg@msn.com, SteveCase, lunchmeat@spam.net)
• Outlook Express: To turn on the BCC field:
  Create a New message and choose View, All Headers.
• MS-Outlook: To turn on the BCC field
  Create a New message and choose View, BCC.
• Netscape Messenger: To send via BCC, type the first address, click the To: button on the left of the name and choose BCC from the drop-down list. After pressing ENTER, each subsequent address you type will be Blind Carbon Copied.
• Lotus Notes - the BCC field is right there. Nothing to "turn on", no hoops to jump through, just use it!
• Juno Mail - Juno versions earlier than 3.0 do not allow BCC. However with Juno 3.0, the BCC feature exists and works just like AOL. There is no dedicated BCC field. Instead, place alias/nickname, mailing list name, or e-mail address in CC field and surround entire collection in parentheses.
• WebTV - does not have a bcc feature.
• Most web-based email programs (such as Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail) are intuitive enough to figure out. Something saying "BCC" is usually staring you right in the face.