In a world where more spam is sent every day than regular email, it is mostly up to the individual user to do something about it. Receiving less spam in your inbox means less time wasted and also less chance of interacting with spam. One way to deal with spam is through disposable email services.
Most Internet users have one or more email addresses. While many new users who use the Internet exclusively on mobile devices may not use email frequently, the majority of computer users have one or more email addresses that they use on a daily basis.
These email addresses hold value for spammers and marketers as they can use automation to send unsolicited emails to them. Many are blocked by spam filters and many more are ignored, but spam slips through, and since spam is a numbers game, it’s profitable.
One of the best defenses against spam is to keep email addresses private. This doesn’t always work as it can be sold by services you’ve signed up for, leaked on the web if a service is hacked, or revealed by your contacts e.g. B. if you upload their entire contact list to a or their computers get hacked.
Disposable email addresses like Yopmail, as well as email forwarding services like Firefox Relay or AnonAddy, offer a useful line of defense. Basically, they protect a user’s original email address with one they provide. Email is routed through the Services much like VPN connections route Internet traffic through their servers to protect a user’s IP address.
Using multiple email addresses is an alternative, but it’s usually not possible to create hundreds of email addresses. If you have access to a domain name and email services, you may be able to create and use multiple email addresses.
Some providers support filters, e.g. B. Gmail or Outlook support filters that change the email address by allowing users to add text, but these are easily filtered out by services on the Internet and are not usable in all situations.
The benefits of disposable email addresses
If used correctly, the original email address will not be shared with any services or contacts. You sign up with the disposable email address and all communication takes place between the email address and the provider of the service. Relay services forward the emails to your “real” email address.
Many disposable email providers support creating multiple email addresses. You could use one per service on the web you sign up for, which also helps identify services that sell or otherwise leak email addresses. It’s easy enough to block or delete created email addresses to stop spam flow.
The choice of provider is essential. Many free services come and go quickly, and it may be more beneficial to sign up for a paid service instead. Commercial providers include Spamex, Firefox Relay and 33Mail.
The Cons of Using Disposable Email Addresses
Organizations operating disposable email addresses and forwarding services must be trusted. All email communication flows through their servers, which means the emails are readable unless protected.
Some email services give users access to the entire address pool, which means that anyone who happens to check the inbox of a specific email address can read all incoming messages. Deleting read-once emails or using providers that give out unique disposable email addresses are options to deal with it.
Another disadvantage is that services may be blacklisted, so the email domains they support may not be used to sign up for services on the web. Again, this can be overcome in some cases. Some providers give you access to multiple domain names, while others allow you to set up your own custom domain names.
Email providers may go out of business, which can be problematic for users depending on how the service was used. If you used it to sign up for services on the Internet, you may not be able to recover your passwords or account access.
closing words
Disposable e-mail addresses and e-mail forwarding and relaying services provide useful services to Internet users. It can protect a user’s email address and privacy if used properly. Whether it is better to use free or paid services is debatable. Free services generate revenue through ads and sometimes donations, paid services through subscription fees.
Now you: Do you use one-way email services or relay services? If so, which and why?
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Pros and cons of using disposable email services
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Disposable email services, email forwarding and forwarding services aim to protect your email address. Here are the main pros and cons of using these services.
author
Martin Brinkman
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Ghacks technology news
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