Blind carbon copy

Blind Carbon Copy

The term Blind Carbon Copy(BCC) refers to a method used in email communication to send a copy of an email to one or more recipients without the knowledge of the other recipients. This feature is commonly used to maintain privacy and confidentiality among recipients.

History

The concept of carbon copying originates from the use of carbon paper to create duplicates of typed documents. With the advent of electronic mail, the term was adapted to refer to sending copies of emails. The "blind" aspect of BCC was introduced to allow senders to include additional recipients without disclosing their email addresses to others.

Functionality

In most email clients, the BCC field is an optional field where the sender can enter email addresses of recipients who will receive the email without their addresses being visible to other recipients. This is in contrast to the CC (Carbon Copy) field, where all recipients can see each other's email addresses.

Advantages

• Privacy:BCC helps protect the privacy of recipients by hiding their email addresses from other recipients.
• Confidentiality:It allows the sender to include recipients who may not want their participation in the email thread to be known.
• Reduced Clutter:By using BCC, the email header is less cluttered, making it easier to read.

Disadvantages

• Miscommunication:Recipients in the BCC field may not be aware of each other, which can lead to miscommunication if they reply to the sender without knowing who else is involved.
• Ethical Concerns:Some consider the use of BCC to be unethical if it is used to secretly include someone in a conversation.

Usage in Email Clients

Most modern email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail, support the BCC feature. The BCC field is typically located below the "To" and "CC" fields in the email composition window.

Security Considerations

While BCC can help maintain privacy, it is not a foolproof method for ensuring confidentiality. Email headers can sometimes be exposed through technical means, and recipients may inadvertently reveal BCC recipients by using "Reply All."

Also see

• Email etiquette
• Carbon Copy
• Email privacy
• Email client