Disclaimers
Disclaimers
are important to limit liability and comply with security and legal
policies, as they make the position of the organization clear on each
and every message that is sent by the organization. Disclaimers can
take different legal aspects, such as:
They
can also be used in interdepartmental email, provide helpful contact
information, or simply ensure that the corporate address is on every
email.
Note
A sample disclaimer covering breach of confidentiality and accidental breach of confidentiality:
“This
email and any files transmitted with it 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
system manager. This message contains confidential information and is
intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named
addressee, you should not disseminate, distribute, or copy this email.
Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received this
email by mistake and delete this email from your system. If you are not
the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying,
distributing, or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this
information is strictly prohibited.”
In
a welcome change from Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007 offers an easy and
effective way to add disclaimers to messages traversing the messaging
infrastructure. Historically, this was very difficult to do in the
Exchange family.
The position of the
disclaimer can be specified by the rule. Disclaimers can be either
appended (the default and customary option) or prepended. Prepending
the disclaimer is a way to ensure that it is read, but can interfere
with the readability of the email.
The font of the disclaimer can be specified, although the font types, sizes, and colors are somewhat limited. Table 1 shows the different settings and values.
Table 1. Disclaimer Font Settings
| Setting | Values |
|---|
| Font type | Arial, Courier New, or Verdana |
| Font size | Smallest, Smaller, Normal, Larger, or Largest |
| Font color | Black, Blue, Fuchsia, Gray, Green, Lime, Maroon, Navy, Olive, Purple, Red, Silver, Teal, White, or Yellow |
An
interesting option is the fallback action. Encrypted and other
protected email cannot be modified, which interferes with the process
of adding disclaimers. To deal with this, the disclaimer rule has three
options to choose from when a disclaimer cannot be added directly:
Wrap (the default)— The original message is wrapped in a new message and the disclaimer is appended to the new message.
Ignore— The disclaimer is not added to the message and the message is delivered as normal.
Reject— The message is not delivered. A nondelivery report (NDR) message is sent to the sender notifying them why it was not delivered.
Another
useful option is the ability to create a separator line between the
disclaimer text and the message. This helps the readability. If
specified, the agent is smart enough to put the line in the appropriate
position depending on if the disclaimer is appended or prepended.
Exchange
does not check if disclaimers have been added to earlier messages, so
the transport rule could wind up adding multiple disclaimers if not
configured properly or if messages are forwarded or replied to. This
tends to be more of a problem with internal disclaimers, rather than
external disclaimers.
Disclaimers are basically a form of the transport rule and are implemented using them.
As
an example of implementing a disclaimer, suppose an organization wants
to add a disclaimer to all email that is destined for external
recipients. To do this, complete the following steps:
1. | From the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization folder, and select the Hub Transport folder.
|
2. | In the actions pane, select New Transport Rule.
|
3. | Enter in a name for the rule, such as Corporate Disclaimer on All Outbound Email.
|
4. | Click Next.
|
5. | Select the condition, in this case Sent to Users Inside or Outside the Corporation.
|
6. | Specify outside the corporation by clicking the blue, hypertext “Inside” text.
|
7. | Select Outside from the Scope drop-down, and click OK.
|
8. | The word Outside will be displayed in the rule description.
|
9. | Click Next.
|
10. | Select
the action to take by checking the appropriate box, in this case Append
Disclaimer Text Using Font, Color, and Fallback to Action if Unable to
Apply.
|
11. | In the rule description pane, click the blue, hypertext “text” to enter the disclaimer text, and click OK. |
12. | Leave the position as “prepend,” and the fallback action as “wrap.”
|
13. | Click Next.
|
14. | Leave the exceptions blank, and click Next.
|
15. | Click New to create the disclaimer transport rule.
|
16. | Click Finish to exit the wizard.
|
Now, the disclaimer text will be appended to all outgoing messages.
