Skip to content

The BIG Reason

Music, opinions, and portfolio of Mark Eagleton, musician and web developer in Northern CA.

The Real Advantage to Non-disclosure Email Signatures

I made myself a canned response to long-winded email messages with multiple recipients that contain one or more non-disclosure email signatures. In the name of efficient communication, I encourage you to copy, modify and reuse this message liberally.

I was recently inspired to compose the following message for use in an auto-responder upon being copied on a painfully long email thread that contained a few different confidential email message disclaimer signatures:

Per your request, I have deleted all copies of the email message you recently sent to me with the above subject line. I believe it contained confidential information and/or file attachments that weren’t intended for me. Please resend the portion of the message that was intended for me. No physical copies of this message were made.

You know the signatures I’m referring to, right?

The information in this email may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone other than the addressee is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately delete this email and all copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the sender. Any disclosure, printing, copying, or distribution of this message is prohibited if you are not the intended recipient.

No one likes reading through unnecessarily long email threads, and most everyone is, at best, annoyed by these signatures. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Encourage concise email communication while holding people accountable for their ill-considered legal stipulations.

Entering into a legal contract is voluntary. Make it clear that if someone wishes to attach a contract to an email message they send to you, the message they send should be concise and thoroughly considered before sending.