The Little Known Hack That Can Transform Your Online Privacy
If you’re an Apple user like me (not affiliated), looking after your privacy online just got a little easier. Apple's 'Hide My Email' feature has been introduced as part of its iCloud+ subscription service. It allows users to create unique, random email addresses that forward to their personal inbox. These randomly generated email addresses can be used when signing up for services, newsletters, or any online platform that requires an email address. It’s easy, it’s quick and effective - my favourite kind of security hack.
By using this feature, you’re welcoming:
Enhanced Privacy: Your real email address remains hidden from services and websites.
Spam Control: If a random address starts receiving spam, you can simply turn it off without affecting your main inbox.
Easy Management: You can create and delete email aliases as needed, all from your iCloud settings.
Tracking Prevention: It becomes harder for companies to track your online activities across different services.
Simplified Sign-ups: You can quickly generate a new email address when signing up for services without revealing your personal email. Woohoo!
So How Does It Work?
When you need to provide an email address online, the option of using 'Hide My Email' will pop up
Apple generates a unique, random email address (e.g., abc123@privaterelay.appleid.com).
This random address forwards all incoming mail to your real iCloud email address.
You can create multiple random addresses and manage them through your iCloud settings.
If you start receiving spam or no longer need a particular address, you can easily deactivate it without affecting your primary email.
Should I Be Using 'Hide My Email' and Are there Alternatives?
I recommend using the function to those particularly concerned about online privacy and data tracking and to people who often sign up for new services or newsletters that want to keep their main inbox clean.
If you’re worried about your emails being read Apple has stated it doesn't read or process any of the content in the email messages that pass through, except to perform standard spam filtering and that all email messages will be deleted from their servers after they’ve been delivered, usually within seconds.
If you’ve got a good system going, you rarely sign up to anything or you're not particularly concerned about companies having your email address, you might not need to use it. You may be team Android (or other) and prefer to use non-Apple services for email management. If so, there are alternatives such as Temp-Mail that provide temporary, disposable email addresses. Many email providers also allow you to create aliases or plus addressing (e.g., youremail+service@gmail.com) and solutions like SimpleLogin or AnonAddy offer similar functionalities across different platforms.
Best Practices for Using 'Hide My Email'
Regularly review and manage your email aliases.
Use descriptive labels to remember what each alias is for.
Don't use 'Hide My Email' for critical accounts (e.g., banking) where you need direct communication.
Keep your iCloud account secure with a strong password and two-factor authentication.
Remember, 'Hide My Email' is just one tool in the broader landscape of online privacy. Combining it with other good practices like using strong, unique passwords, being cautious about the information you share online, and regularly updating your privacy settings across various platforms will help ensure a more secure and private life and business.
Stay safe!