Internet Safety Tip—Think Twice Before Forwarding E-mails

 

     Did you know that forwarding e-mails can put you and your friends at risk?

Forwarding is the act of sending a received e-mail message to others, usually without editing it. E-mails should not be indiscriminately forwarded for several reasons:

 

1. When you forward e-mail, you can be giving out personal information such as the e-mail address of the person who sent it to you, as well as any others in the original list of recipients.

2. Indiscriminate forwarding of e-mail can also be considered to be spamming. Make sure the e-mail you send has a point. If you have to forward something, make sure you know the complete contents of the e-mail including any attachments; and do not include the e-mail addresses of anyone else.

3. Once you forward an e-mail, the recipient may forward it, too, which provides your e-mail address to strangers. Share this newsletter with your friends so they too will know how to safely forward e-mails.

 

 

 

 

If you want to send information that you received in an e-mail to a friend:

• Copy the specific content that you want to send on to your friend (highlight the text and then click “Ctrl C”).

• Open a new mail message window.

• Paste the specific content into your new message (click in the body of the e-mail and click “Ctrl V”).

·Address and send your e-mail.

 

 

For this article and other information

relating to ethical use and internet safety,

check out the full newsletter at:

 

http://www.isafe.org/imgs/pdf/newsletter/2007/i-EDUCATOR-10-07.pdf