blind carbon copy
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Blind carbon copy (abbreviated Bcc) allows the sender of a message to conceal the person entered in the Bcc field from the other recipients. This concept originally applied to paper correspondence and now also applies to
email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
. In some circumstances, the typist creating a paper correspondence must ensure that multiple recipients of such a document do not see the names of other recipients. To achieve this, the typist can: * Add the names in a second step to each copy, without
carbon paper Carbon paper (originally carbonic paper) consists of sheets of paper which create one or more copies simultaneously with the creation of an original document when inscribed by a typewriter or ballpoint pen. History In 1801, Pellegrino Turri, ...
; * Set the ribbon not to strike the paper, which leaves names off the top copy (but may leave letter impressions on the paper). With email, recipients of a message are specified using addresses in any of these three fields: * To: Primary recipients * Cc:
Carbon copy Before the development of photographic copiers, a carbon copy was the under-copy of a typed or written document placed over carbon paper and the under-copy sheet itself (not to be confused with the carbon print family of photographic reproduc ...
to secondary recipients—other interested parties * Bcc: Blind carbon copy to tertiary recipients who receive the message. The primary and secondary recipients cannot see the tertiary recipients. Depending on email software, the tertiary recipients may only see their own email address in Bcc, or they may see the email addresses of all primary and secondary recipients but will not see other tertiary recipients. It is common practice to use the Bcc: field when addressing a very long list of recipients, or a list of recipients who should not (necessarily) know each other, e.g. in
mailing lists A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is re ...
.


Benefits

There are a number of reasons for using this feature: * Bcc is often used to prevent an accidental "Reply All" from sending a reply intended for only the originator of the message to the entire recipient list. Using Bcc can prevent an
email storm An email storm (also called a reply all storm or sometimes reply allpocalypse) is a sudden spike of "reply all" messages on an email distribution list, usually caused by a controversial or misdirected message. Such storms can start when even ...
from happening. * To send a copy of one's correspondence to a third party (for example, a colleague) when one does not want to let the recipient know that this is being done (or when one does not want the recipient to know the third party's
e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
address, assuming the other recipient is in the To: or Cc: fields). * To send a message to multiple parties with none of them knowing the other recipients. This can be accomplished by addressing a message to oneself (or, in some email clients, leaving the To: field empty) and filling in the actual intended recipients in the Bcc: field. * To tighten the focus of an existing email correspondence. By "moving people to BCC," a sender can remove non-essential parties from the recipient list so that future reply-all's will not include them. It is customary to include a parenthetical note indicating that certain recipients have been moved to BCC. This can be done out of courtesy to uninterested parties, or as a way of politely cutting off non-essential parties from the thread going forward. * To prevent the spread of
computer virus A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...
es,
spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
, and
malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...
by avoiding the accumulation of block-list e-mail addresses available to all Bcc: recipients, which often occurs in the form of
chain letters A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...
.


Disadvantages

In some cases, the use of blind carbon copy may be viewed as mildly unethical. The original addressee of the mail (To: address) is left under the impression that communication is proceeding between the known parties, and is knowingly kept unaware of others participating in the primary communication. A related risk is that by (unintentional) use of "reply to all" functionality by someone on Bcc, the original addressee is (inadvertently) made aware of this participation. For this reason, it is in some cases better to separately forward the original e-mail. Depending on the particular email software used, the recipient may or may not know that the message has been sent via Bcc. In some cases, 'undisclosed recipients' placed in the To: line (by the software) shows that Bcc has been used. In other cases, the message appears identical to one sent to a single addressee. The recipient does not necessarily see the email address (and real name, if any) originally placed in the To: line. When it is useful for the recipients to know who else has received a Bcc message, * their real names, but not their email addresses, can be listed in the body of the message, or * a meaningful substitute for the names can be placed in the body of the message, e.g. '
o General Manager and members of Remunerations Committee O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...
, or ' o the whole Bloggs family.


Carbon vs. courtesy

The interpretation of "Bcc:" as "blind courtesy copy" is a
backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
and not the original meaning; the historic RFC 733 has an explicit "blind carbon" annotation in its definition of the Bcc: header field syntax. "Cc:" and "Bcc:" mean "carbon copy" and "blind carbon copy" respectively.


See also

*
Carbon copy Before the development of photographic copiers, a carbon copy was the under-copy of a typed or written document placed over carbon paper and the under-copy sheet itself (not to be confused with the carbon print family of photographic reproduc ...


References


External links

*
US-CERT The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is an organization within the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Specifically, US-CERT is a branch of the Office of C ...
br>Cyber Security Tip ST04-008
"Benefits of BCC" {{DEFAULTSORT:Blind Carbon Copy Email de:Header (E-Mail)#BCC fr:Courrier électronique#Système de copie et de copie invisible