4. Email

Email stands for 'Electronic Mail'.

The electronic transmission of mail allows you to send formatted text and images to someone else with an email address.

Each E-mail user has a 'mailbox' with a unique address into which messages can be sent ready for the recipient to collect and read.

If you have an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for your Internet connection, they may provide you with an email address and let you use their email service for no extra cost.

You can also get an email address from one of the many free providers such as Gmail.

Email is now one of the most common methods of communication because of the advantages it brings. There are now a host of devices that can send and receive emails : Computers, tablets, smart phones and even games consoles. This make you can access your email from virtually anywhere as long as you have the right equipment

Typical uses of email

• standard business communication (text based)
• keep in touch with friends and family
• broadcast information to many people (spam is an unwelcome consequence of this)
• Sending and receiving electronic documents

Without email, many businesses would not be able to operate.

When sending email, confidentiality should be kept in mind. Normal email is private enough for every-day use in that you need an username / password to log in to your email account. However, emails travel along the Internet and so are easily intercepted. The next level up is to encrypt the email message as well. For instance, sending commercially sensitive information or financial details should be done with encryption.

Also keep in mind that email addresses can be 'spoofed' which means the email may not have come from the legitimate sender. To overcome this problem, digital signatures can be used to absolutely prove that the sender did send it.

The UK has recognised that businesses would like to be able to send legally binding contracts by email and to that end it was included in the Electronic Communication Act in the form of defining electronic signatures. However, the details are technically complex and so they have not yet become the norm.