eDiscovery Daily Blog

Think Before You Hit Send (Unless You’re On Gmail and are Really Fast): eDiscovery Trends

Let’s face it, people make mistakes. However, a new feature from Google may help people who make those mistakes avoid the consequences – if they’re quick to address them.

As covered on Fortune.com (Gmail now officially lets you ‘Undo Send’ those really embarrassing e-mails, by Kia Kokalitcheva), Gmail, Google’s e-mail service, has officially added its “Undo Send” feature to the Web-based version of the service. Previously an experimental feature as part of Gmail’s “labs,” the feature lets users retract an e-mail after it’s been sent. Users can choose a time window between five and 30 seconds during which they’ll be able to recall that offending e-mail. So, if you’re modus operandi sometimes tends to be “ready, fire, aim”, you can avoid that critical mistake, if you notice it and act quickly.

Although Google actually first introduced the feature in 2009, it will now be located in Gmail’s general settings tabs instead of hidden in the “labs” section. However, users will have to manually enable it as the feature is not turned on by default. Google’s recently released email app, Inbox, also provides the “Undo Send” feature for those who need the safety net when on the go (which may be even more often than from the desktop).

Here’s a page with instructions on how to enable the “Undo Send” feature.

Imagine if this feature catches on with other applications, such as Microsoft Outlook? Or social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter? If this feature existed in these applications in the past, it might have helped many who may have wished that they could think after they send, including an all-pro NFL running back, a Chili’s waitress, the daughter of a former prep school head (who lost out on an $80,000 settlement), the social media manager of an NBA team and a former New York congressman (and former NYC mayoral candidate).

Regardless of which applications eventually have this feature, unless you’re very quick to catch your mistake, it’s still better to think before you hit send. Take a deep breath, look over the content, check to make sure you’ve selected the correct recipient(s), then hit send. Otherwise, you just might be the next social media disaster story covered on eDiscovery Daily!

So, what do you think? Do you think the “Undo Send” feature will catch on with other applications? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

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