University of Florida - College of Medicine

Email Security and Etiquette

Welcome to the Digital Age

Like any other privilege, access to electronic mail comes with certain responsibilities. Please consider the following as you make use of email and other computerized services here in the Health Science Center.

Email Security

Security may not seem important to you. You might think "It's only email, why should I care?" But remember, your password is like your signature on everything that's done from your account. Don't leave yourself open to abuse by others. Check out this email nightmare:

A professor at a major US university received numerous death threats after his e-mail account was broken into and used to distribute a racist message to more than 20,000 computer users. He described it as "the digital equivalent of a drive-by shooting." (Atlanta Journal Constitution 10/94 by way of EDUPAGE)

Email Etiquette

• SPECIFY A SUBJECT FOR EACH MESSAGE. Use descriptive subject titles like "Study Group at 4PM" or "Apartment Available." Don't force your recipients to guess why you are sending them a message.
• BE BRIEF. Add blank lines and other formatting so the structure of your message is clear. It is a good idea to set off email and World Wide Web addresses with blank lines and indentation. For example:
  
       http://medinfo.ufl.edu/
  
  
• AVOID ATTACHMENTS unless you know your recipient's system is able to decode them. Many systems will not handle attached documents correctly. It is often much better to cut and paste text from a word processor directly into the body of your message. This ensures that it will be readable when it reaches its destination.
• The universal format for email is PLAIN TEXT (also called ASCII text). Lines should be word-wrapped at approximately 80 columns. (You may have to turn this feature "on" in your email software.) Spaces and carriage returns are the only special formatting characters allowed. It is generally a good idea to avoid HTML in an email message.
• SIGN YOUR MESSAGES with your name and your return email address if you expect a reply. Many systems may not handle automatic return addresses correctly. This is especially important when sending email from a public workstation or browser such as Netscape.
• THINK BEFORE YOU SEND EMAIL TO MORE THAN ONE PERSON. Do the additional recipients really want or need to see this message? Will everyone know the context for this message? If you can't answer "yes" to these questions you probably shouldn't send it to the larger group. Other people are seldom interested in email "chat" between two parties. Never send personal email to a mailing list such as "All First Year Students."
• Be careful when you reply to email from a mailing list. If you really intend to respond to the PERSON who wrote the original message, use a PERSONAL address. You may need to go to an address book and look it up if the reply has been automatically addressed to the list.
• When you quote a message from someone else, be sure it is clear WHO SAID WHAT AND WHEN. Be especially careful when you forward an entire message. Will the recipient understand why you are sending it? Did the original author intend for the information to be passed on? If in doubt, ask!
• BE CAREFUL WITH HUMOR AND SARCASM. Some jokes fall short in the absence of facial expression and tone of voice. Humorous remarks may be taken seriously when they are quoted out of context.
• BE CAREFUL WITH PERSONAL INFORMATION and what you say about others. Remember that once you send a message you cannot control who will ultimately read it. If you are quoted out of context, someone may become offended or angry even though this is not what you intended.
• DO NOT SEND CONFIDENTIAL PATIENT INFORMATION VIA EMAIL unless you are sure it is allowed in your current situation. Email to or about patients falls under the new HIPAA reguations. The Health Center privacy policies can be found at: http://privacy.health.ufl.edu/policies/email_announcement.asp