Self-destructing emails? Or just 'best before'?

One of the more high-profile additions to Microsoft's Office software – Outlook with emails that 'self-delete' after a set time to keep senders from electronic slip-ups – may not be quite the security revolution it's been talked up to be.

A Microsoft spokeswoman told silicon.com that, rather than removing itself from the recipient's inbox entirely or self-destructing, an email that has been "timestamped" using the new function will remain, clearly visible, in the recipient's inbox. However, without being granted new rights from the sender, the recipient still won't be able to open it.

silicon.com readers were unimpressed with the unique and novel tool, not fancying it to be hugely novel or that unique. Reader Graham Silversides highlighted that a similar tool was already at work in other Windows software: "This feature is already available in Outlook XP. From within a new email message in the Options box there is a tick box called 'Expires after:', where you can set the date and time for the message to 'expire' or disappear. I have tried this and it works."

Another reader, Paul Wilson, raised the point that Lotus Notes had included a similar feature for years. He went on to raise the issue of corporate responsibility. "If companies are forced down the route of saving everything that is sent by email, the user side will not be an issue," he said.

It's a sentiment that Alyn Hockey, director of research at mail-filtering firm Clearswift, agrees with.

"Email and web security is as much about preventing data leaving the organisation as it is protecting the organisation from threats, such as viruses and spam, coming into the organisation," he said. Email is now a corporate issue, warranting company-wide policies covering use and retention. By establishing best practice policies to meet internal, regulatory and legal requirements, mistakes can be prevented."

The issue of compliance regulations and 'best before' emails is still a tricky one, with Hockney highlighting that the technology could prevent business complying with regulations that demand an email be archived and available for scrutiny for years after it has been sent.

While the new technology may leave some users lukewarm, it seems that there's one group of users that may be very happy to get their hands on it.

David Naylor, partner at law firm Morrison and Foerster, said the new software may actually help criminals, allowing people to threaten companies or individuals via email and then theoretically hide the evidence.

He told silicon.com: "While you can see its uses, there is plenty of scope for abuse of this technology. You could say that people talk to each other - and that's equally hard to evidence. The difference here though is that email provides a medium for mass, remote communication, often across borders and legal boundaries."