E-mail jamming

E-mail jamming is the use of sensitive words in e-mails to jam the authorities that listen in on them by providing a form of a red herring and an intentional annoyance. It is used by some civil rights activists in an attempt to thwart government spy networks such as ECHELON. Activists deliberately include "sensitive" words and phrases in otherwise innocuous emails to ensure that these are picked up by the monitoring systems. The theory is that the senders of these emails will eventually be added to a "harmless" list and their emails no longer intercepted, thus allowing them to regain some privacy.

E-mail jamming has become increasingly popular in the United Kingdom since the introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act by Jack Straw and its extension by David Blunkett.