Email jamming is the use of sensitive words in email

Email

Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...

s to jam

Jamming

Jamming may mean:* Interfering with communications or surveillance:** Radio jamming** Radar jamming and deception** Mobile phone jammer** E-mail jamming* Jamming , cheered show-offs during social dancing...

 the authorities that listen in on them by providing a form of a red herring

Red herring (plot device)

Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance...

 and an intentional annoyance. It is used by some civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 activists

Activism

Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

 in an attempt to thwart government spy

SPY

SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

 networks such as ECHELON

ECHELON

ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK–USA Security Agreement...

. 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

Privacy

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...

.

Email jamming has become increasingly popular in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 since the introduction of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...

 by Jack Straw

Jack Straw (politician)

John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...

 and its extension by David Blunkett

David Blunkett

David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...

.

Following plans by the UK government to monitor traffic on social networks similar schemes have been proposed for networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These would involve "friending" and "following" large numbers of random people to thwart attempts at network analysis.