Is BCc: Polite?

Have you found yourself the recipient of e-mail messages where some of the recipients have been listed in the BCc; field, leaving you in the dark about who was or was not included in the message? What are the E-mail Etiquette considerations for hiding recipient's names from others on the mailing list? Isn't this akin to having a phone conversation on a speakerphone without telling the person you're calling?

In this situation that would depend on the reason for using BCc:. Is the Sender trying to protect the privacy of their contact's by not exposing their addresses to others receiving the e-mail whom they may not know? Or, is the Sender quietly letting others know of a conversation with someone else? The latter could be good or bad depending on motives; while the former is the right thing to do.

If the others that were BCc'd do not know each other, putting their e-mail addresses in the BCc: field to protect the privacy of their e-mail address is the proper thing to do.

Now, if you all know each other and don't mind having the others see your e-mail addresses, the question then becomes, what was the Sender's motive in BCc'ing folks on a correspondence?

The only E-mail Etiquette consideration is to not broadcast your contact's e-mail addresses to folks they don't know. As with anything it is up to the Sender's discretion as to how best to use BCc:.