Email Signatures Requiring Confidentiality

Recently Chris Erb at erblawg wrote a post that hit on something that annoys me: the email signature that purportedly prohibits me from from doing anything with the message. Chris explains his frustration thusly:

These signatures are a pet peeve of mine. While the sender may hope that a couple of words in all caps will scare people into submission, there’s very little in the way of legal action which could be taken in the event I were to do any or all of those things. Quite simply, by sharing their wisdom with me outside of some contractual limitation on my behavior as the recipient (such as a confidentiality agreement between me and the sender) they ceded a significant meassure of control over the distribution of that wisdom. Absent any other restriction, the only real limitation on distribution would be copyright law, which may or may not help depending on the nature of the use. To my way of thinking, they’d be better off politely asking the recipient not to do those things and hope for the best. In my case, the mere attempt to “prohibit” makes me want to distribute the e-mail (or at least write a blog entry berating them for having a silly signature).

I agree with him on all of these points. One of my favorite comments, however, is what he ends with:

Of course, in this particular instance there’s another problem. Even if this were enforceable as written, I could, as a presumably “intended” recipient, apparently broadcast the e-mail to the world without arousing the ire of [the sender] . . . .

My favorite is when the “don’t distribute” warning is coupled with the “everything in this email is confidential and/or privileged” warning. What gets even better, is when I see this big long warning about not distributing the email, that the information is confidential and protected by privilege, and this entire warning is on the bottom of an email that is sent to a listserv that is distributed to thousands or tens of thousands of attorneys.

I know lots of people who use these warnings, but that doesn’t mean that you should do it. Think about the email that you are sending. If it contains confidential information, then label it as confidential (at the beginning of the email, not the end). Better yet, if the email really contains confidential information, is that something you should be sending via email. Is there a better way to communicate the information? Should you be using some sort of encrypted email?

Whatever you do, just don’t tag every email that you send with the same stupid warning about it being confidential and to not distribute it.

Complying with the FTC

I think most bloggers are now aware the requirements of the FTC to disclose any relationship between the blogger and a product or service being reviewed. The trick, of course is to make sure that you comply with the rules. Michael Hyatt has recently written a great post in which he gives some tips on how to comply with the guidelines. First he points us to a site called cmp.ly, which has created some simple, easy to use, standard disclaimers.

Also, if you are not interested in using what cmp.ly has to offer, Michael offers both his solution (a disclaimer at the end of each post) along with the 5 standard disclosures that he has created. He even provides a convenient link to Add Post Footer that allows you to automate this process.

If you are looking for some sample disclosures, Michael’s post has some good samples.

A Quick Note About Books

I read a lot of books. In the past I have blogged here about the books I have read. In 2009 I decided to stop that and I created a blog about the books I read. I call it I would Rather be Reading. If books interest you, you can check it out here.

A Great Tip for Camera Owners

One of the issues associated with having so many electronic devices (many of which keep getting smaller) is the fact that it is fairly easy to lose or misplace your devices. I recently saw this post from Andrew McDonald, in which he explains the steps he took to help recover his camera in the event that he loses it. He explains:

All you have to do is take some photos – which you never delete from your camera – so when someone finds your camera at the bottom of the gorilla pit they are able to locate you and return the lost property to its rightful owner.

You must go to his post to see his pictures.

There is no question that he had some fun putting together his pictures, but we can all do something similar very easily. Obviously this will not help you if your camera is stolen. But, if it is found by a reasonable person, this increases the likelihood of getting your camera back.

In the same vein, think of similar types of things you can do with your other devices, whether it is to keep pictures on it (almost all phones and mp3 players have the ability to display pictures). If you have a mp3 player that does not display pictures, you can easily record a sound file with your contact information on it.

If you have a smartphone or other similar device, they almost always have a feature that allows you to store owner information. Have you completed that? If you lock your smartphone (certainly a good idea if it contains confidential information) does the lock screen provide your contact information?

There is always a danger that someone will steal our electronics. Just as likely, at least for some of us, is the possibility that we may lose one or more of our devices. Taking a simple step such as this gives you a chance to get your device back.