A single technological advice: Do not give it -your foreigner’s email, use a decorated address instead

London (AP) – You have heard of firing phones. But is the burner’s mail?

Most of the Internet now requires you to surrender your E -mail address before you can use any services -from an application you downloaded to register for a newsletter or redeem a special online offer.

But who says you have to give your e -mail address? The next time you are asked, consider the use of an E -mail mask.

There are an increasing number of services that provide disguised E -mail addresses and send any messages to your real address. Experts say this can be a powerful tool to protect privacy and security.

Here are some indicators about the pies and hows of email masking:

Mask on

The idea behind masking through E -mail is simple. The masking service offers you a randomized address that you can use as decor instead of your actual Emmail. It can be a number of unrelated words or a string of letters and numbers. When someone sends a message to the burner’s e -mail, it will be automatically directed to your address without knowing anyone.

The suppliers include the search engine focused on Duckucko’s email protection service, the Firefox relay from the Mozilla browser manufacturer, Fastmail Email and Independent Services such as Addy.io. The Crypted Service Proton Mail offers E -mail mask with the password manager and the Simplelogin Autonomous service. There are many others.

It is one of the features that Apple offers users who subscribe to its iCloud+ or Apple One services. When using the Safari Browser app on the iPhone and you need to enter your E -mail, you can reach the field above the keyboard to “hide my E -mail”, which then creates a random address as a substitute.

It is also available on MAC computers with Safari Desktop browser or E -mail app. If you use another browser or app, you can manually create an E -mail random address by accessing iCloud settings.

A key feature

Most services have a free version with basic options and a premium level, with multiple functions.

Some free services can only receive e -mail, but they can’t answer them. However, an important feature that users should look for is the ability to do both, said CEO Proton Andy Yen.

“You may never respond to an informative newsletter and it’s fine,” said Yen. But this is a problem if, for example, you used your E -Email alias to buy something online and there is a problem with your order that the site must ask.

“Then the ability to answer is actually quite important,” he said.

Most masking services have a board control panel where you can view the various allies addresses you have activated. If you notice that one that starts to get a lot of spam, turn off it.

When should I use it?

Mask -E -mail when you want to add an additional layer of privacy or protect yourself from data leaks or sharing unauthorized information.

An e-mail mask is a “general purpose tool that can be used in any context,” says Santiago Andrigo, the main product director at Mozilla.

However, he recommends his use in two key situations. The first is when you’re not sure what a website will do with your E -Email address.

“The masking of E -mail gives you control -if you start to receive unwanted messages, you can easily block any E -mail that come to that E -mail mask,” said Andrigo.

The second scenario is “when your association with a service could reveal sensitive personal information,” he said. For example, if you join an online community for a specific medical condition or a minority group, a data violation could expose your participation.

E -mail fail

There are numerous reasons not to give your e -email to anyone who wants.

It could be sold to marketers or shadow data brokers, eroding -their confidentiality, helping them build a profile from you for legitimate or bad purposes.

If your address ends on the wrong correspondence list, it could lead to multiple E -Junk or Phishing. And if an online service is hacked, attackers could compensate with authentications, passwords and other personal information.

Using unique passwords for all your online accounts – usually with the help of a Password manager – It is a good practice of cyber security. “But the real pain point for any user is not actually the password that flows, but in fact the Em mail runs,” said Yen.

Changing the password after a data violation is a standard practice, but it is much harder to change another sensitive information, your E -Email address – unless you use a mask.

False solutions

There are other so-called hacks that you may have heard.

You can set up a throwing account with a free E -mail as Gmail or Yahoo. But it’s tiring to do that.

Some Gmail users add an additional sign and an additional phrase or combination of characters between their username and @sign. It helps you to follow who share your address as well as filter messages.

But “from the point of view of confidentiality, this does nothing,” said Yen. “Because people can simply take extra and receive the original address.”

But the middle man?

E -mail masks use their servers to transmit message traffic between sender and recipient. So how can you be sure that servers are private?

Look for renowned suppliers that promise not to keep your messages. If you shop for an E -mail masking service, Yen recommends checking if it has “appropriate terms and conditions”, a privacy policy and is based on a jurisdiction in which it could be liable.

“We say very clearly that we do not keep a copy of nothing that goes through our servers,” said Yen.

Firefox relay says in frequent questions that he does not “read and store any of your messages.”

“If an E -mail cannot be delivered to you, we will keep it on our servers and we will delete it after it has been delivered (in no case we will keep it for more than three days),” he says.

Apple says that “does not read and processes any of the content” in E -mail messages that go by hiding my E -mail, except for standard spam filtration.

“All E -mail messages are deleted from our relay servers after they are delivered, usually in a few seconds,” says the iPhone manufacturer.