Configuring Outbound Email Disclaimers
What are Email Disclaimers?
Outbound email disclaimers are statements that are automatically added to the footer of an organization’s outgoing emails. For organizations that are using UpStream’s outbound email filtering functionality, UpStream offers the ability to add disclaimers on all outbound messages from an intuitive and easy to use interface.
These disclaimers can be used for multiple purposes, including:
● Legal Protection: Limit liability for misdirected emails or unintentional errors. Disclaimers often include confidentiality clauses and warnings about unauthorized dissemination.
● Brand Reinforcement: Reinforce brand identity by including company logos, contact information, or marketing messages.
● Compliance: Include specific disclosures required to comply with regulations, such as all communications being legally discoverable for public entities.
● Information Disclosure: Provide essential information, such as contact details, legal entity names, or data protection notices.
Disclaimers can be set on a per-domain basis or specified to exclude certain sender email addresses from having a disclaimer added. Some commonly used sample disclaimers are below that can be used as a base for your organization’s custom disclaimer.
Note: Tangent makes no claim or advisory as to the legal enforceability or defensibility of email disclaimers. They are to be used at the sole discretion of the sending organization.
Example 1: Basic Confidentiality and Liability Disclaimer
“CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. We accept no liability for any errors or omissions arising as a result of the email transmission.”
Example 2: Opinion Disclaimer
“The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and no not necessarily reflect the view of [Company Name].”
Example 3: Legal Advice Disclaimer
“This email is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult with a qualified legal professional for advice tailored to your specific situation.”
Configuring Email Disclaimers
Creating a new Email Disclaimer is a rapid process, but does require Domain Administrator permissions. Be sure to log into the UpStream system using a Domain Administrator account and not a User account.
From the UpStream navigation bar, click Settings, then Outbound Disclaimers.
Scroll down to the Outbound Disclaimers section, which lists all domains that a disclaimer can be applied to.
Click the pencil icon in the Options column beside the preferred domain to edit the disclaimer for that domain.
Note: Want to select multiple domains and apply a disclaimer to all of them? Check the box on the left of each desired domain to select it and then click the pencil icon button.
A pop-up dialog box will appear. In the fields that spawn, enter in the disclaimer text into the two footer sections, then toggle the “Attach Disclaimer” option to On.
Note: Be sure enter both the plain text and HTML text of the disclaimer to ensure all formats are supported and the disclaimer is applied to all emails. Emails that are sent out via plain text may not receive an HTML disclaimer otherwise, and vice versa.
Click the blue Save button to save and activate the new outbound disclaimer.
Creating a Disclaimer Exemption
Disclaimer exemptions can be created to exclude specified email addresses or domains from having a disclaimer added. This can be used for select Senders, who may not be subject to the global disclaimer (say, a client-facing attorney whose conversation would not be discoverable under Attorney-Client Privilege) or for recipient domains, which would have value for internal users emailing each other and not needing a disclaimer since they belong to the same organization.
From the Outbound Disclaimers page, scroll down to the section titled Disclaimer Exemptions.
To add a new disclaimer, click the gray Add button.
From the pop-up that appears, enter the following information:
● Email/Domain: The email address or domain that will be affected by the exception.
● Type: Select if the entered email address or domain is meant to specify a sender or a recipient. If creating an exemption for a domain, specify “Recipient”.
● Comment: Add a comment to describe the exemption and why it exists. Best practices also recommend notating which administrator is setting it and a datestamp for the change.
Click the blue Save button to save the disclaimer exemption. It will take effect immediately.
Note: For configuring a large amount of exemptions all at once, use the “Import” function with a text file formatted with one email address per line.
