Communicating Online: Email Signatures

It was such a refreshing change to see this email signature from Phil O'Hara, Dalhousie University:

The information in this e-mail is NOT privileged or confidential. This information is intended for your use and any other distribution, copying or disclosure is strongly encouraged. Thank you.

after seeing these:

This communication is privileged and contains confidential information intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, other distribution of this communication or taking any action on its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately and delete this message without reading, copying or forwarding it to anyone.

This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal, and or privileged information. Please contact us immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communications received in error, or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed.

Please consider the environment before printing this email. This e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately. Any review, dissemination, copying, printing or other use of this email by persons or entities other than the addressee is prohibited, unless permission is granted by the sender. If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately and delete the material from any computer.

This email and any attachments are intended only for use by the addressees named in this email and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify me by return email and by phone at xxxxx, permanently delete the original and any copy of this email and any attachments from your systems and destroy any printouts of them.

I actually have a bigger collection of signatures that I've saved over the past year or so. But you get the idea!

I've noticed signatures from different people/organizations that have identical wording. Are they plagiarized? ;-)

I get a kick out of reading these. I'm curious about WHY people use email signatures that reveal such paranoia about how others might use those words in the message.

Do you add an email signature to your correspondence. Why? Is it a requirement of the organization you work for? Are you really concerned that someone will forward your email to others?

Have you noticed that nobody pays attention to these disclaimers? I've received hundreds of cc'd and forwarded messages containing information clearly stating that I should never have received them!