disclaimers and signatures

This page highlights some questions about disclaimers and signatures in email.

It covers

• introduction
• status
• parodies

     introduction

There is disagreement about the efficacy and appropriateness of disclaimers at the end (or more rarely at the beginning) of email messages, particularly those from employees of government agencies, large corporations or some professions.

An example of such a disclaimer is

The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient please delete and do not disclose to another person or use, copy or forward all or any of it in any form. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of ....

That disagreement includes comments such as

• "the boilerplate is much much longer than the actual message" and "there is a 47 line disclaimer attached to a one line message"
• the disclaimer is legally value-less
• it is a breach of netiquette or general good manners
• it is not seen in 'offline' communication
• "it is nonsense imposed by our system administrator"

     status

Despite claims that email disclaimers are a new and meaningless innovation, they can be traced back to disclaimers featured in fax messages from lawyers, brokers, major corporations and even government agencies.

They have been adopted (and adapted) as organisations have come to recognise that electronic mail does go astray and as those bodies have sought a measure of comfort. Some, such as finance sector institutions, have been encouraged by regulators - and potential litigation - to append a caveat to all written communication; in principle an email message is no different from a fax or a letter.

Others have adopted them in 'me too' mode, with systems administrators or advisers cloning another organisation's disclaimer - automatically applied to every email - in an effort to reduce risk or merely to acquire some gravitas. On the net even a message from your dog can look like it comes from a Wall Street lawyer.

On a day by day basis disclaimers are a signal, rather than a comprehensive solution. They remind recipients that the message might not be authentic. The recipient should accordingly exercise some care in making decisions on the basis of any message and, for critical communications, should verify that the message was indeed from its purported author and was not corrupted.

The disclaimer may appear to be pointless: it is subverted for example by editing or forwarding the message, few recipients have signed an NDA prior to receiving a missent email and there is little the sender can do to 'undo' receipt. Acceptance by courts and consumers varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

In practice a disclaimer may have value, if litigation occurs, by demonstrating that the recipient - intended or otherwise - was alerted that the content of the message was copyright and might be of confidential nature.

It might for example provide proof that a lawyer acted with due professionalism in trying to prevent disclosure of privileged information.

     parodies

Spoof disclaimers include -

This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee/s identified 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 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 tintinnabulation 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 barking dog 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. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your first-born. 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 160 minutes before icing.

and

This disclaimer is utter nonsense, and just like everybody else's, imposes no duties or limitations, and expresses no rights, in any legal, moral or ethical sense whatsoever.

and

I may not have sent this email as my address may have been spoofed. If I did I may have no record or might have forgotten about it. You can't prove I did anyway, so there. Maybe someone else had taken over my computer or merely used my machine while I was away. You can therefore place no reliance on this communication or anything else that comes to you via the net

and

If you are not the intended recipient close your eyes now. Failure to do so may cause eye damage, or not, as the case may be

or the more positive

What you are reading originates from the internet, and therefore may not be from the alleged source. If you have any doubts about the origin or content of this document please contact us directly via alternative communication channels that are better able to authenticate our true existence

   next page  (management)