Buzz Bear Media provides marketing & branding services to medium & large size premium clients on a global scale and as such we deal on occasion with confidential information. Shipping manifests. Price quotes. Fashion show and jewelry show exhibit lists. We understand and respect the needs of our high-end clients that such data should not reside in either of our email folders indefinitely. Sadly, this has required manual deletions as there is no specific date self-destruct option on a sent email (unless your client is Ethan Hunt with the IMF). That is until now. Gmail has rolled out a new Confidential Mode.
Cloak and dagger aside, Confidential Mode emails can be created and sent with individual expiration dates as long as you are using the newest version of Gmail. (Unsure? Click on the gear icon. If you see “Try the new Gmail” then you haven’t updated. Just click it and Gmail will reload to the latest version.)
That is actually the hardest part.
Revealing the Confidential Mode procedure
Now, you are ready to open the email composer and write a message as you normally would do.
When you have completed that task, look for a small clock icon at the bottom of the message. (Figure #1).
Click it and a pop up will reveal the new area where you are to configure time settings for this email. (Figure #2)
- Expires in one day
- Expires in one week
- Expires in one month
- Expires in three months
- Expires in five years
But, that is only the first element in this two-part Gmail Confidential Mode security measure.
Next you are asked whether or not you wish you include a SMS passcode which would be required for the recipient to open the email.
If yes, you will be sent the code via text. If you opt for no passcode, then anyone will be able to read the email when it reaches its destination. (The system will produce another pop up requesting the phone number of the recipient if you selected SMS passcode).
And, that is it.
One other point. TechRepublic has reported that some browsers have a delay. “If you’re using Firefox and you don’t see Confidential Mode available, open your account in Chrome, compose an email, and then go back into Firefox to make sure the feature has now been enabled.”
But, other than that little quirk, Gmail offers an easily attainable level of security to protect confidential figures and plans.
How else can Buzz Bear Media help you manage your medium to large business marketing accounts?