Email Problems: Spam, Reflection, and Privacy Solutions

Introduction

Humankind has been communicating over increasingly lengthy distances throughout the millennia, beginning with drums and smoke signals, to relay runners and mounted messengers, to the telegraph and telephone, and then, during the 1990s, the Internet and email. All of these communication media have their limitations, including the most popular written communication method today: email. Indeed, many observers believe that email will eventually spell the end of the United States Postal Service, and trillions of dollars worth of business is transacted using email each year. Nevertheless, like its predecessors, it is reasonable to suggest that the time will come — and it may come sooner than expected — when email is obsolete, having been replaced by "the next big thing."

This paper provides an introduction and overview of social informatics and examines three problems currently associated with email that may hasten its demise: so-called "spam" email, the immediacy of the process that prevents reflection prior to sending messages, and security and privacy considerations. Potential solutions to each of these issues are also discussed. A summary of the research and important findings concerning current problems with email and potential solutions are presented in the conclusion.

Background and Overview of Social Informatics

The past two decades have been characterized by an increased focus on the social context in which information technologies are used (Jacko & Sears 2009). According to Jacko and Sears (2009, p. 1184), "The research has appeared under many labels, including social analysis of computing, social impacts of computing, information systems, sociotechnical systems, and behavioral information systems. In more recent years, this overarching enterprise has begun to coalesce within a new field called social informatics." In sum, social informatics concerns the multidisciplinary investigation of information technology design, applications, and implications that takes into consideration human interaction with various cultural and institutional contexts (Jacko & Sears 2009). According to Sawyer and Rosenbaum (2008, p. 90), social informatics researchers "focus on the social consequences of the design, implementation, and use of information communication technologies (ICT) over a wide range of social and organizational settings."

Based on its problem-driven approach, social informatics assumes that ICTs and the organizational and social settings in which they are used share a mutually shaped relationship (Sawyer & Rosenbaum 2008). Because it is problem-driven, social informatics "tries to make sense of the vexing issues people face when they work and live with systems in which advanced ICT are one important and increasingly pervasive component" (Sawyer & Rosenbaum 2008, p. 91). One ICT element that is the cause of "the vexing issues people face" is electronic mail, or email, including its use as a direct marketing tool in the form of spam, the immediacy of the process that precludes reflection prior to usage, and significant privacy and security issues, which are discussed further below.

Anyone with an email account — which is to say virtually everyone — who has clicked on their "new mail" button has likely been the recipient of countless unsolicited emails advertising the enlargement or reduction of various body parts, offers to renegotiate mortgages at more favorable rates, and personal contacts from members of royal families in different countries who claim hundreds of millions of dollars to share if the recipient will only provide certain personal and private financial information. These so-called "spam" emails are a source of never-ending frustration for email users today, and the amounts being sent appear to be growing. For example, McCusker (2009, p. 2) reports that, "Unfettered global communication through the internet has facilitated a massive intrusion of unsolicited commercial email messages, commonly known as spam. Currently accounting for as much as 65 per cent of all email, spam leads to productivity costs for businesses each year and is increasingly being used for the commission of crime."

Spam Email

Although spam emails are a relatively recent phenomenon, they are a direct extension of the so-called "junk mail" that has flooded personal and business mailboxes for decades (McCusker 2009). The main difference between junk mail and spam, however, is the enormous volume of spam that consumers and businesses receive compared to the amount of junk mail that crowds their physical mailboxes (Blotzer 2008). Moreover, spam email seems to proliferate irrespective of what consumers or businesses attempt to do to stem the flood. In this regard, McCusker (2009, p. 3) points out that, "Spam is email sent to a large number of people who do not request it, detailing products or services in which they may have no interest. It is sent by people who disguise their identity and whom it is difficult, if not impossible, to locate or deter." Virtually all (95%) of spam email contains offers for various products and services (McCusker 2009), and approximately 15% of all email received today is spam (Aquino 2012). While the United States continues to generate more spam email than anywhere else by far, the problem has assumed global proportions in recent years (McCusker 2009).

Part of the problem relates to the sheer volume of spam being generated each day. According to Yeargain and Settoon (2007, p. 16), "With the growing use of the Internet for unsolicited commercial electronic mail (spam), many individuals and businesses are complaining about the time and effort necessary to delete such material from personal and business computers. Spam within an organization can cost between $600 and $1,000 per year in lost productivity for every user." This lost productivity is due to email recipients being forced to scan through legitimate emails to identify and delete spam from their inboxes (Osborne & Kunz 2007). Osborne and Kunz (2007, p. 46) emphasize that, "Spam has penetrated the online environment at rates that may be considered equivalent to an epidemic of catastrophic proportion. Individuals and businesses alike are forced to spend a significant amount of time removing the spam from their daily routines." Indeed, the flood of spam emails has caused some practitioners to reduce their overall email usage. Osborne and Kunz (2007, p. 46) report that, "Because of the increase in the number of spam messages consumers receive, 44% report they have decreased their use of email and the Internet in the last year." Furthermore, spam filters are less than perfect and have been shown to block up to 17% of all legitimate emails (Osborne & Kunz 2007).

Clearly, even small- to medium-sized enterprises can experience significant financial loss due to spam, and the problem is even more severe for larger corporations with thousands of employees. A study conducted by Nucleus Research included interviews with IT administrators at 76 companies in the United States and found that:

Current email volume levels and the cost to all Internet users are set forth in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Volume of email messages and percentage of spam

The typical content of spam emails is set forth in Table 2 below.

Table 2. Typical content of spam emails

Source: Adapted from Yeargain and Settoon 2007, p. 17

Another part of the problem with spam email is the cost efficiency involved in this direct marketing approach. The premise of spam email is that while the overwhelming majority of recipients will either delete or ignore such messages, a small number of consumers will respond, thereby making the strategy worthwhile. The costs of sending spam are ridiculously low, averaging between U.S.$0.000082 and U.S.$0.000030, while purchasing email addresses can be accomplished for as little as U.S.$0.00032 per address (McCusker 2009). These highly competitive rates have created a virtual spam email juggernaut that appears unstoppable, in large part because increasing numbers of recipients are responding to spam messages (McCusker 2009). For example, a recent study in the United States found that at least one-third of spam email recipients clicked on a link to obtain additional information, and another 7% actually made purchases of goods or services from spam email offers (McCusker 2009). With these numbers in mind, it is not surprising that spam email is proliferating at a rapid pace. As McCusker (2009, p. 3) points out, "If spam recipients respond in any way to the emails they receive, they will inevitably assist in the continued perpetuation of spam."

In sum, spam is a serious and complex problem for consumers and businesses that requires a complex solution (McCusker 2009). Although governments have a significant role to play in addressing the spam problem, consumers and businesses are on the front lines of fighting it. McCusker (2009, p. 4) notes that, "Governments alone cannot tackle spam. Individuals and businesses also need to increase their awareness of the dangers of spam and of the importance of establishing effective policies to prevent its dissemination." Because of the substantial constraints to prosecuting major spam producers, consumers and businesses should implement spam filters to eliminate as much of the flood as possible (McCusker 2009). An important point made by McCusker, however, is that irrespective of the technological sophistication of such spam filters, spam producers are hard at work identifying ways to defeat them and will exploit every vulnerability in these systems (McCusker 2009).

Conclusion

The research showed that throughout history, humankind has been faced with limitations on its communication methods. Drums and smoke signals do not work efficiently when it is windy; relay runners and mounted messengers can be attacked by wild animals and hostile forces. Telegraph lines can be damaged, and even modern cellular telephone service is spotty at best in certain parts of the country — or even a household. Likewise, the research showed that email also has several limitations, including its use as unsolicited spam, the immediacy of the process that does not afford email senders the opportunity for reflection, and significant concerns over privacy and security.