Fake email addresses can help protect your privacy online
If you've ever searched for a product online, you know it doesn't take long before targeted ads show up on your screen for the exact item you were looking for.
While companies can track your searches, what they really want to get their hands on is your personal email address so they can send offers directly to your inbox.
When you sign up for services or to try to get a discount online, chances are you're asked for your e-mail address. If you give it out, you could get e-mails you don't want and end up on spam mailing lists.
To protect your privacy and limit spam, there are now websites that generate temporary or fake e-mails that can be used once and then discarded.
Big tech companies are sharing details about almost everything you do on the internet and that includes what you search, the websites you visit and the people you connect with online, and, according to Consumer Reports, the primary way they do this is with your email address.
“One of the main ways that they do it is tying your identity together using your e-mail address,” Thomas Germain, a tech editor with Consumer Reports, told CTV News Toronto.
Germain said if you want to limit spam and protect your privacy, you may want to try an alternative or fake e-mail service.
“There are a number of these tools and they all work a little bit differently, but basically they give you an alternative email that isn’t tied to your identity that you can plug in when you’re signing up on a new website,” Germain said.
You may have seen “sign in with Apple” on some sites. This generates a random, unique e-mail address for Apple users. Then, any e-mails from that site can be forwarded to your regular inbox without them ever knowing your real address.
The upside is you get the e-mails you need without being tracked. The Firefox browser offers Firefox Relay which allows users to create up to five fake e-mail addresses for free or get unlimited ones for 99 cents a month.
“And then there are a number of temporary e-mail services that give you an e-mail inbox you can use, but then it self-destructs after about ten minutes,” Germain said.
For most temporary e-mail services, you don’t even have to create an account. 10minutemail, Temp-mail, Minute Inbox, and EmailOnDeck are popular services.
Websites like these could come in handy if you’re asked for an e-mail address to get an instant online discount or an e-mail is required for a service you only plan to use once.
The added bonus to using any fake or temporary e-mail address is that you’ll end up with less spam in your real inbox.
While a fake or temporary e-mail can help reduce unwanted e-mails that you receive, you should always use your real e-mail address in any correspondence with your bank, doctor or if you're receiving concert tickets or boarding passes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.