How to Send a Self Destructing Email?

You oftentimes communicate via email and you want to know how to send a self destructing email? If so, look no further as here we explore several different options for sending self destructing emails. We also explore self destructing email technologies, so by the end of this article, you know all about self destructing emails, how they work, and finally how they protect your online and data privacy.

Before we get there, it is worth mentioning that email technologies have been around for over fifty years. Back in 1971, the very first electronic email system was developed by Ray Tomlinson. However, the very first attempt to send an email goes back to 1965. At the time, MIT had a program known as MAILBOX through which users of computers at MIT could communicate with each other. At the time, this system was quite effective but it only allowed students using the same computer to communicate this way.

Long before anyone wondered how to send a self destructing email, the United States Department of Defense crafted its ARPANET or Advanced Research Project Agency Network in 1969. This was a network that connected many different computers located within the US Department of Defense. Naturally, the main purpose of the ARPANET network was to enable communication among all of the department’s employees. The very first email using the ARPANET network was sent on the 29th of October that same year.

From ARPANET to Self Destructing Emails

The fifty-year long history of sending electronic mails includes many ups and downs, amazing technological advancements, and of course, numerous inventors and programmers. Inventors and developers all worked together to help with the creation of the modern email communication system that billions of people use today. Two years later after the very first email was sent using the ARPANET network, Roy Tomlinson developed his electronic email system which is the precursor of the modern emailing systems.

So, before we examine how to send a self destructing email, we need to explore the history of email and the work of the genius inventor of email, Roy Tomlinson. His email program that worked on the ARPANET network was the very first system for sending emails between computer users connected to different ARPANET hosts. Before Roy Tomlinson’s invention, only users of the same computer were able to communicate this way.

Needless to say, Roy Tomlinson’s invention completely revolutionized the way people communicate not only back in the 70s but today as well. Thanks to the advent of the internet and advanced technologies, the systems for instantaneous communication became more complex as well as more practical and beneficial. One of the biggest contributions to the rise of email technology was the “@” sign. From here on, almost seventy-five percent of ARPANET traffics was conducted by email communication.

This led to new ideas primarily revolving around sending emails to computers users connected to different outside networks. Back in the late 70s, inter-organizational emailing systems were quite popular which led to the development of software that stored and organized such emails. These were the precursors to modern email inboxes.

In the early 80s, numerous hosting sites and internet service providers with emailing options started popping up. In the 90s, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Echomail revolutionized the email landscape and the internet in general by increasing email technologies to wider audiences. By the late 90s, the internet had around 400 million active users while it had around 55 million users only two years prior. Following the growing internet use, being online and communicating via email became a societal expectation as opposed to being a curiosity back in the late 90s.

How to Send a Self Destructing Email?

Before we explore how to send a self destructing email using Gmail, we should examine what is a self destruct email and how it works. A self destruct email works just like self destruct messages, self destruct videos, and self destruct files you can send today using many different encrypted instant messaging services and apps. When you send a self destruct email, this email will vanish or become unavailable after a certain time frame as set by the sender.

Even though technologies powering seld destruct emails and other similar options out there have existed for quite some time, they have not been as effective as the modern technologies we can benefit from today. Needless to say, these new technologies we have at our disposal today significantly boost email security as well as internet and data privacy.

It should be noted that there are two different types of self destructing emails you can send today. There are retractable emails and one hundred percent self destructing emails. When you send a retractable email, you can cancel your email or message any time before the recipient of the message opens and reads it. On the other hand, when you send a self destruct email, it always disappears completely from the digital world after a predetermined time.

How to Send a Self Destructing Email in Microsoft Outlook?

Unlike Gmail that offers great options for sending self destructing emails with its Gmail Confidential Mode, when using Microsoft Outlook for the same purpose, you need to rely on some other services. In other words, Microsoft Outlook does not offer options to send self destructing emails since its service uses S/MIME encryption, unlike Gmail’s service that is empowered with end-to-end encryption.

Using this kind of encryption technology is the best, and the only way to make sure that your emails send using Microsoft Outlook are one hundred percent safe and secure while sitting at your recipient’s inbox as well as while being in transit. So, how to send a self destructing email in Outlook? First of all, you need to use some kind of encryption provider to Outlook emails and one of the best options out there is Digify.

Digify is a powerful encryption add-in for Outlook that uses the best AES-256 encryption algorithm thanks to which you can send self destructing emails in Outlook whenever you want to ensure your emails travel safely. To get started:

• Get the Digify Outlook encryption add-in for Outlook
• Compose a new email in this newly installed Digify add-in
• Attach files, images, of some other media if you like
• Make sure you set Access Control, Permissions, Watermarking, and Expiry
• Insert your attachments as a link and send