Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) is a method of sending email where the recipients listed in the BCC field are not visible to other recipients. Each recipient receives an individual message, appearing as if they were the only recipient, as the email client generates a separate transmission for each address in the BCC field. For example, if an email is sent to recipient A in the ‘To’ field, recipient B in the ‘CC’ field, and recipients C and D in the ‘BCC’ field, recipient A and B will see each other, but neither will see C or D. Recipients C and D will each receive a message that appears to have only been sent to them.
The primary benefit of utilizing BCC lies in its ability to protect the privacy of email recipients. This is particularly important when sending emails to large groups, preventing the exposure of individual email addresses. Additionally, BCC can reduce the likelihood of ‘reply-all’ storms, where recipients inadvertently send responses to an entire distribution list, clogging inboxes with irrelevant messages. Historically, BCC emerged as a necessity alongside the increasing use of email marketing and mass communication, providing a necessary layer of privacy and control over recipient information.
