mailing list

A list of e-mail addresses that represent people who share a similar interest or who regularly correspond. You can subscribe to some mailing lists to receive regular updates or electronic newsletters, among other messages. Depending on the structure of the list, it is relatively easy to copy all of the recipients' e-mail addresses and add them to another list without permission; this is considered an invasion of privacy, though, and should not be done. In fact, that sort of copying is why many Web sites now have a privacy policy that assures users they won't share mailing lists with third parties.