Article :: KB00017
What are"Disclaimers"?
An email disclaimer is a piece of information or a legal notice which is added below in every outgoing email sent within the organization or outside the organisation. Through disclaimer, we provide the information about the confidentiality of email, copyright information, contract formation, scanning for viruses etc. It is common for the entire organization. You can apply plain text or HTML formatted disclaimers or legal notice.
Prerequisites
Permission Required - You need "Organization Management" permission to make the changes in the feature called "Mail flow". You can use the Exchange Admin Center or Exchange Online Portal or Powershell to apply the disclaimer.
Position of the disclaimer - You can apply the disclaimer at the starting/top of the email i.e. prepend, or at the end/bottom of the message i.e. append. (Note: Generally, organisations apply the disclaimer at the end of the email.)
Step-By-Step Process
1) Open your EAC or Office 365 Admin Portal. On the sign-in page provide your admin credentials.
2) Within EAC, click on Mail Flow.
3) In the Mail Flow Page, click on the "Rules" tab, then click on the "Add +", and then click "Apply disclaimers".
4) In the "New Rule" window do the following. In the "Name" field, enter a unique name of the rule. In the example, I have given the name "01-Disclaimer".
In the "Apply this rule if" field, select the conditions for displaying the disclaimer. In the example, I have selected the "The sender is located" condition, and then select "Inside the organization". I want the disclaimer on every email to send within the organization or outside the organisation. You can use your logic as per your organisation need or compliance.
In the "Do the following" field, select Enter text to enter your disclaimer. In the given example, I have entered the below-formatted text. Note: You can add simple plain text as well as formatted text. It supports HTML formating.
<div id="footer" style="background-color:#D5EAFF; border:1px solid #003333; padding:.7em; ">
<span style="font-size:12pt;font-weight:bold; font-family: 'times new roman'; color:#ff0000;">Disclaimer</span></br>
<p style="font-size:10pt;text-align:justify; line-height:10pt; font-family: 'times roman';">The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this message are intended only for the individual(s) addressed in the message and may contain proprietary and confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender destroy this message. WARNING: Computer viruses can be transmitted via email. The recipient should scan this email before open it. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. </p>
<span style="padding-top:10px; font-weight:bold; color:#CC0000; font-size:10pt; font-family: 'Calibri',Arial,sans-serif; "><a href="https://www.virtualgyanis.com">2019 © VirtualGyanis.Com </a></span></br>
</div>
Now, click on "Select one" to provide the fallback options. In the example, I have selected the WRAP option. For more information, on the Fallback options for disclaimer rules, click here.
Now, we have to mention the audit and severity levels. We need to assign the severity level that appears in the mail message logs. In the example, I have selected "HIGH".
Then, select the mode for the rule. Select Enforce to turn on the disclaimer immediately.
Now, with "More Options" at the bottom, you will get additional conditions or exceptions that you want to add. Like, restrict multiple disclaimers being added in an email conversation or you want different disclaimers for internal and external users or any exception for any specific departments etc. You can explore the additional conditions or exceptions based on your organisation requirement.
When you're done with editing, click on Save.
Click on the Yes to apply the Disclaimer rule.
Now, the rule is showing in the Rules tab as shown below.
Below is the Disclaimer in the Plain Text.
Disclaimer with Formatting.
For more information on the Disclaimer, Scope of disclaimer, formatting options etc, please click here.
If you liked this article, do share the same. You can also Buy me a Coffee using Paypal at "paypal.me/duttaavijit", This is purely a volunteer effort. THANK YOU !!!