Episode 227: Data Driven Daily Tip 317 - What Is Gmail Confidential Mode?

Business Owners, IT Professionals and Entrepreneurs - what is Gmail Confidential Mode?

You may have received an email from Google / GSuite lately regarding Confidential Mode. 

The subject is - [Action Required] Gmail Confidential Mode launching default ON for your domain

The body reads: What do I need to know?
When Gmail messages are sent in confidential mode, it helps protect from unauthorized access and recipients don’t have the option to forward, copy, print, or download their content or attachments. Senders can also set an expiration date for messages sent with confidential mode and revoke access to them at any time.

What does this mean for my organization?
From June 25, your users will have the option to send emails with confidential mode, unless you disable this feature.

As an administrator, you can determine whether your users can use confidential mode by selecting from the following setting options:

Disable: This option prevents users in your domain from sending emails with confidential mode.
Enable now (beta): This option will enable confidential mode, which is currently in beta. However, the feature will remain enabled when it enters into general availability on June 25, 2019.
Enable when the feature is in general availability: This is the default option and will enable confidential mode when this feature becomes generally available on June 25, 2019.
What do I need to do?
Please ensure that you select the appropriate option in the Admin console for your organization before June 25, 2019.

You can find this setting in the Admin console by navigating to Apps - G Suite - Settings for Gmail - User settings

If you do not take action before June 25, your domain will automatically have confidential mode turned on for your users, meaning that users will have the option to send emails with confidential mode.

My contacts and our clients at Data Driven Design have a history of getting confused by messages like this from Google / GSuite - and rightfully so. The most recent example is what happened with Google Groups.

Well, I try to stay ahead of these things and help you, answering your questions before you even have them, so here goes. Please watch the video / listen and let me know if this helps!