SMJ Solutions

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)

November 9th, 2005

The blind carbon copy is the least used feature of one of today’s most popular communication methods: sending email.

Every email client (local or web-based) I’ve ever used supports the blind carbon copy. It’s just as easy to use as the To and CC (carbon copy) fields; the only real barrier is that most email users don’t know what BCC stands for, let alone what it does or how to use it. That it may be unappreciated, forgotten, and unused no more, I offer a brief description and a few examples.

Suppose you have been tasked with emailing a simple newsletter announcing the next family reunion. The uninformed may choose to put everyone’s address in the To field and send the email. However, a better approach would be to put the addresses in the BCC field. That way, crazy cousin Chris can’t harvest all of the email addresses to use for her annoying “Forward this email to 100 people and you’ll get a million dollars from Bill Gates” emails.

Another worthwhile use of blind carbon copy is to follow up on an unfinished task at work. For example, let’s say a programmer has promised to deliver a custom application, but the deadline passes with no results. You could send a “Where is my application?” email to the programmer and CC the software development manager, but this will make the programmer feel singled out and may weaken your relationship. A better option would be to BCC the software development manager so he can either add additional pressure to the offending programmer or assign additional resources to get the project done. BCC is a great way to keep someone in the loop surreptitiously.

What would I do without the BCC field? I would expose email addresses to people who shouldn’t have them. I would be forced to put everyone on the To or CC lines when some may not need to know who else received the email. I wouldn’t be able to send a copy anonymously to a co-worker when replying to a ridiculous request from my boss. I would reveal email addresses to those who didn’t need to know the other recipients and risk increasing everyone’s spam traffic.

The appropriate use of the BCC field separates the savvy email user from the uninformed. Educate your friends and family about it. Don’t ever send out another mailing list without using the BCC field. Use blind carbon copy appropriately and it will help more efficiently and securely use your email.

Entry Filed under: Web