A fax has no lock on it. It comes out of a machine in a corridor. Or it lands in a shared inbox other people can open. The first person to pick it up isn't necessarily the person it was meant for. The confidentiality notice is written for that person.
So it's short. It sits at the foot of the page under a rule. It says: these pages were meant for someone else. Don't pass them on. Call this number. It's instructions. Not a warning label.
What it can't do is undo a wrong number. A notice gives a stranger something to act on. It doesn't create an obligation on someone who never agreed to anything. It doesn't bring pages back. Confirming the number before dialing does more for a confidential document than any wording at the bottom of page one.
The pages shouldn't be passed around. The right choice for contracts or HR paperwork or financial statements. Anything commercially sensitive.
A specific legal status attaching to communications with counsel. Use the legal type. Only when the pages are from or to a lawyer.
Records covered by federal health privacy rules. The HIPAA type carries that wording.
Marking everything privileged when it isn't weakens the marking on the pages where it counts. Pick the one that fits.
Send a fax from an iPhone at 50¢ per page. Fill in the same fields. Pick a layout. The cover sheet goes out in front of the document. No subscription. US & Canada.
