You can spend years sending messages by email without ever needing to use the “CCI”. However, if the email is used in a professional setting, knowing its merits and its use is a requirement. This allows you to use it wisely. Thus, if the sender and recipient headings on the header are easily understandable. “CC” which means carbon copy and “CCI” which means invisible carbon copy, are less so. Moreover, most users do not know what this symbol means.
What does the blind carbon copy refer to?
The carbon copy can be seen as a tribute to the true carbon copy which existed before the creation of the copier and which allowed to keep replicas of a document. It's like a double sheet that is put under the main sheet and takes everything you write as you go. It is used as much for drawings as for texts. Thus it is placed between two sheets, of which the one completely below, will be the duplicate of the one above. If today this practice is hardly used any more with the advent of new technologies. Log books using this system are frequent to establish invoices with copies.
The usefulness of the CCI
The "CCI" allows you to hide your recipients in "To" and "CC" when you make a group send. This prevents the answers of some from being seen by others. Thus the "CC" are considered as duplicates visible by all the recipients and by the sender. Whereas the "CCI", as the term "invisible" indicates, prevents other recipients from seeing those who are in the "CCI". Only the sender will then be able to see them. This is important for the job, if you want to go quickly, without the answers being visible to everyone.
Why use CCI?
By sending an email in "CCI", the recipients in this section never appear. Thus, its use may be motivated by respecting personal data. What is important in the professional environment. Indeed, the email address is a constituent element of personal data. Just like a person's phone number, full name or address. You cannot share them as you want without the consent of the concerned. It is to avoid all these legal and judicial harassments that the "ICC" is exploited. In addition, it can be a simple managerial tool that allows to have separate data from several suppliers without them communicating with each other. The same is true for several employees, several clients, etc.
From a purely commercial point of view, sending bulk emails without using the "CCI" can offer your competitors a database on a silver platter. They will only have to retrieve the email addresses of your customers and suppliers. Even malicious people can seize this type of information for fraudulent handling. For all these reasons, the use of the “CCI” is almost compulsory for professionals.
