Very important and difficult gmail E-Mail Question?

Question

I should ask this question responsibly, since I know a little bit more than average people about computers and internet and programming use.

My question is perhaps a hard one to answer.

Is it possible at all to know if an email sent to me has also been blind carbon copy (bcc) forwarded to somebody else as well from the 'full message headder' of the email that you received?

I know its somewhat a silly question. (otherwise it wouldn't be called blind carbon copy) I am not asking whom else it was sent to or their address, but atleast know if it has been sent to some else as well by looking for some pattern or expression or a remark from the full message headder?

(This is a question for smart minds here. I am sorry for asking this question, I don't know how I should feel about asking this, though I feel bad, but circumstances have led me to this, and I am determined to find an answer.)

Answer 1

I thought this was easier than it is, but a quick check of the email standard (RFC 2822) says that it might be possible, IF you yourself received a blind copy. Whether you can find this out depends on the details of the implementation of the blind-copy feature, at the sender's email handler.



If you did not yourself receive a blind copy, then your copy should have been sent with the Bcc: header field removed. In that case, you won't be able to tell.



But if you were on the blind-copy list, it's permissible to send the blind copies with the Bcc: field showing, in which case you'd be able to tell who else got one. However, it's also permissible for the sending system to remove all the names but yours.



It's also permissible for the sending system to send a blank Bcc: field to everyone but the blind-copy recipients, so everyone would know that there were blind copies.



If you can find a Bcc: field in the header, you can see whether it tells you anything. But unless you know the behavior of the sending system, its absence won't tell you anything.

Answer 2

No. It is not possible to know if a BCC was sent to another person. That is why it is called a BCC.

Answer 3

Not possible.