Email Ethics

The rules of civil society apply equally to all conduct, including that carried out with email. Whatever you would consider unethical in life is also unethical in email. For instance, if lying is unethical, so is lying in email.

Somehow, though, it seems easier to cross the line in email than it does elsewhere in life. Your own values determine where the line is for you. To find your own line, try these on for size:

Denial

If you claim not to have read or received a message when you actually have, you're over the line.

Disclosing someone else's email address for harm

If you subscribe someone else to a newsletter, hoping to flood him or her with unwanted junk, you're over the line.

Abusive omission

If you intentionally omit someone from a To list for purposes of harm or harassment, you're over the line.

Misidentifying yourself

If you supply a false email address just to get someone out of your hair, you're over the line.

Faking a mishap

If it's unethical in real life,
it's unethical in email

If you broadcast an embarrassing message to cause harm to someone, intending later to claim that you sent it for FYI or by accident, you're over the line.

Dragging your feet

If you intentionally delay sending a message so as to deprive the recipient of time-critical opportunities or information, intending later to claim that you did in fact inform the recipient, you're over the line.

Silence

If you choose not to reply to someone so as to give offense, you're over the line. Even worse if you later claim that you did reply.

Misrepresenting a quote

If you excerpt a previous message, and alter it in any way other than to indicate deletions, you're over the line. Acceptable indications of deletion are replacement by ellipsis (…) or <snip>, or inserting short phrases in brackets for clarification.

Pleading false confusion

If you claim not to understand a message, when you actually do, so as to cause delay, you're over the line.

Intentional ambiguity

If you write a message ambiguously — to slow things down, to cause confusion, or to mislead — with the intention of later claiming, "Gee, I thought it was clear," you're over the line.

Wandering eyes

If you read other people's email without permission, either at their desks (whether or not they're present), or by any other means, you're over the line. Except, of course, if it's part of your job.

Forgery

If you edit the headers in an excerpted or forwarded message so as to misrepresent the time, date, author, subject, or routing of the message, you're way over the line.

Masquerade

If you send email from another's account without permission, for the purpose of deceiving someone, pretending that you're the owner of the account, you're over the line.

Most of us have been tempted to cross the line now and then. Next time you feel the temptation, imagine how it would feel to receive such a message. No doubt, whether you know it or not, you already have.  Top    Next Issue

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Do you have an addition to this list? Send it to me.

Your comments are welcome

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When we influence others as they're making tough decisions, it's easy to enter a gray area. How can we be certain that our influence isn't manipulation? How can we influence others ethically?

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Managing Personal Risk Management

When we bias organizational decisions to manage our personal risks, we're sometimes acting ethically — and sometimes not. What can we do to limit personal risk management?

More Things I've Learned Along the Way: V

When I gain an important insight, or when I learn a lesson, I make a note. Example: If you're interested in changing how a social construct operates, knowing how it came to be the way it is can be much less useful than knowing what keeps it the way it is.

See also Ethics at Work, Effective Communication at Work, Conflict Management, Writing and Managing Email and Virtual and Global Teams for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming June 14: Pseudo-Collaborations

Most workplace collaborations produce results of value. But some collaborations — pseudo-collaborations — are inherently incapable of producing value, due to performance management systems, or lack of authority, or lack of access to information. Available here and by RSS on June 14.

And on June 21: Asking Burning Questions

When we suddenly realize that an important question needs answering, directly asking that question in a meeting might not be an effective way to focus the attention of the group. There are risks. Fortunately, there are also ways to manage those risks. Available here and by RSS on June 21.

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