Confidential Email Disclaimers: Are They Effective?
In the course of business, you may often receive emails that are punctuated at the end with a disclaimer that reads as follows: “The contents of this email are intended for the aforementioned recipient and are confidential.” But are these messages effective in protecting your valuable business information and trade secrets?
The general answer is that such disclaimers do not protect anything. The reason behind this is that a disclaimer does not create a legally binding contract. For an agreement to be enforceable, all parties involved must agree to the terms. A disclaimer is nothing more than a warning from one party to the other. And besides, what good does the disclaimer do after the entire body has been read?
To protect your confidential information, avoid sending it though email. Instead, send the data through the regular postal service and package it in a box or envelope bearing a “confidential” or “classified information” stamp. If it is absolutely necessary to send the information through email, then place a disclaimer at the very beginning of the message. In this manner, if an unintended recipient receives it, they will not have to read the entire message to realize it is confidential.
