Question

A privacy engineer is reviewing a new customer notification service that emails users about account activity. The service currently includes the customer's full account number and recent transaction amounts directly in the email body to reduce support calls. Email is sent over standard SMTP to whatever mail provider the customer uses. Which design change BEST addresses the privacy risk while preserving the notification's usefulness?

Accepted Answer

Remove the full account number and transaction details from the email body and instead notify the user of activity with a secure link requiring authentication to view details

Answer

Enforce opportunistic TLS on outbound SMTP connections and keep the account number and transaction amounts in the email body

Answer

Encrypt the entire email body with the company's public key so only the company can decrypt stored copies

Answer

Add a disclaimer to the email footer stating that the message may contain confidential information intended only for the recipient