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June 04, 2005

Email Privacy Hack

Since late 2002, I have used an email signature hack to explicitly tag the privacy of a thread:

this email is:   [ ] blogable    [ x ] ask first   [ ] private

Phil Wolff was the first to pick it up and by now it's likely you have seen it in email or on the web, even usenet.

It works because [ x ] ask first is the default. I've only had two cases where someone didn't respect the privacy tagging of the email and blogged something.

DIY Rights ManagementNow I've made it easier to change to [ x ] blogable (sometimes bloggable) or [ x ] private through three different email signatures. For Mac users, click on the images for a how to in Mail.app preferences.

Email HackIt gives you the ability to select the requested privacy through a pull down bar. Just click, drag and cover your ass.  Or do the same to promote it.

UPDATE: What email hacks can you think of?  Merlin Mann gave me three off the cuff suggestions.  Let's collect a few on this wiki page and then contribute it to the 43 Folders wiki.

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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Email Privacy Hack:

» Bloggable/Not Bloggable. from larry borsato
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» Email Signatures: Privacy and Consent from The Indiana Jones School of Management
Ross Mayfield cranked up the idea, and Tim OReilly picked up on it: adding a privacy checklist to email signatures. This email is: [ ] bloggable [x] ask first [ ] private Im generally of the opinion that anything I send you is fair gam... [Read More]

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