Do email disclaimers still matter?

Increasing numbers of email laws impact heavily on how email is used in the business world. From the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), email is becoming more tightly regulated as phishing, spam, and cyber-attacks are becoming more commonplace. 

What about email disclaimers? 

With new regulations in effect and shifts in email trends, do email disclaimers still matter? 

Let's answer that question with another question. How many emails are your employees sending a year? Most likely, it'll be in the thousands if not more. That's a lot of opportunities for just one email to damage your company's reputation, be it accidentally or maliciously, through libelous comments, leaking of confidential data, copyright infringement or transmission of viral content.

Even today, it makes absolute sense for companies of all sizes to use email disclaimers to protect their brand reputation and corporate liability. 

Why do we use them in the first place?

They don't look great after all. Email disclaimers were originally created to cover confidentiality breaches, adhere to email regulations and protect companies from liability for negligent advice. 

Some parties say that email disclaimers carry no authority, however, the wording is designed to protect and prevent legal action against you. An email disclaimer, when written correctly, can cover you in the following areas: 

• Breach of confidentiality 

• Employer’s liability 

• Liability for the unintentional transmission of computer viruses 

• Accidental breach of confidentiality 

• Unintentionally entering in to contracts 

• Negligent misstatement 

• Regional legal or regulatory requirements 

Email disclaimers in practice 

In advanced markets, like the European Union and North America, there are regulations in place that require businesses to add disclaimers to emails, something that's not likely to change any time soon. 

U.S. email disclaimer laws

Take the United States for example. It has the most complete set of email disclaimer laws in the world. The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) states that for regulatory compliance, an appropriate disclaimer needs to be included in all email communications. This then filters down into different industries where there are different requirements. 

Let's look at the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This act strongly recommends that healthcare organizations use email disclaimers to highlight patient confidentiality in all communications. 

A disclaimer does not make a company fully compliant with HIPAA law. Nonetheless, it ensures patients know the following: 

• The email they're receiving is not 100% secure 

• The content placed within the message is confidential

• The message should be passed on to the relevant person if they're not the correct recipient 

An example of a HIPAA email disclaimer might be: 

"The information contained in this transmission may contain privileged and confidential information, including patient information protected by federal and state privacy laws. It is intended only for the use of the person(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution, or duplication of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message." 

Email disclaimer laws in Canada

Other countries, however, make email disclaimers on all messages mandatory. The Canada Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) mandates that all companies obtain some level of consent before sending email messages to any recipient. That means all email signatures must contain appropriate legal text with unsubscribe links in place. 

This, in essence, gives consumers complete control over their email messages. This law applies to all ingoing and outgoing email messages, and violating this law can cost your organization up to $10 million. 

Protect your business with an email disclaimer

As part of a professional email signature, it's still highly advisable to use an appropriate legal disclaimer on your emails. It's simply not worth the risk to leave your business unprotected without one.

It's true that email disclaimers will never provide you with 100% protection against legal action but it makes sense to include disclaimers to provide an extra level of protection. 

Remember also that laws change, so you need to make sure that you stay up to date. Also, the text included in your email disclaimer might work for one region but not for another. 

What is best practice for email disclaimers?

There are a few best practices to keep in mind when creating an email disclaimer for your business:

• Keep it concise: Long email disclaimers can be off-putting. Aim for brevity while covering the necessary points.

• Make it readable: Use plain language to ensure that recipients understand the disclaimer.

• Update regularly: Review and update the disclaimer periodically to ensure it remains relevant and compliant with any new legal requirements.

• Visibility: Place the disclaimer at the end of the email, but ensure it is still noticeable and readable.

• Consistency: Make sure that your disclaimers are consistent across your whole organization using an email signature manager.

Using Exclaimer to enforce email disclaimers on all messages

Using Exclaimer's email signature management solution is a smart way to centrally control all disclaimer content in one place. With Exclaimer, you can ensure that all users' corporate emails always include the required legal disclaimers tailored to their region.

So, say goodbye to the stress of wondering whether or not your emails are compliant and trust in Exclaimer to keep you covered.

Sign for a free trial of our email signature software or schedule an online demonstration to see the benefits for yourself.