The self-destructing email

It seemed a good idea at the time — that risqué joke circulated to all your workmates on the company e-mail system.

But what if someone takes offence, or forwards it to the boss? Suddenly, you are wishing you could destroy all traces of your rash action.

Well, technology being launched tomorrow means that will be soon possible.

New software allows senders to decide exactly what will happen to an e-mail
after it leaves their screens.

A time stamp can be added to make it disappear from other PCs at a set date.

And it is possible to determine who can read a message, or if a recipient can print, copy or forward it.

Microsoft’s Information Rights Management tool even prompts people to add
the safeguards.

The software, part of the Office 2003 package, could have prevented some
high-profile e-mail scandals.

Government adviser Jo Moore was sacked after sending an e-mail saying
September 11, 2001, was a good day to bury bad news. Under the new system,
her message could have been timed to disappear. Or she could have put
restrictions on who could read it.

Human rights group Liberty said the Government should be barred from using
the new technology as it would make it too easy for it to act in secret.

‘How do you think the David Kelly inquiry would have panned out if we did
not have evidence from people’s e-mails,’ said spokesman Mark Littlewood.

But reckless messagers beware — a copy will still live on in the sender’s computer.