As concerns have surfaced about browsers compiling and selling your data, email privacy has come to the forefront. Several email providers scan your email messages to improve ad targeting when you visit different websites. Yahoo was one of the first, and in 2018 The Wall Street Journal reported that even after being purchased by Verizon, Yahoo is continuing to mine for data. There are much better alternatives out there.
Email tiers
Just like with compartmentalizing browsers, you should have different email accounts for different purposes. I used one of my early email addresses for my kids’ schools. Not only did I get a ton of email, but other parents who weren’t as diligent ended up spamming me inadvertently when their email was hijacked. Add that to the data mining concerns and I soon decided that I wanted a more secure provider.
But I also started thinking in tiers. With some email, I was very concerned with privacy. For other email, I really didn’t care. I suggest you look at your regular correspondence and decide at what level you grow concerned.
Junk
If you ever enter contests, provide information for store loyalty cards, join in yearly March Madness pools, or want to post a comment online, a junk email account is the perfect choice. You could use your real name with the junk account or make up a completely new persona. I have used a favorite football player’s last name and a common first name before. Since there’s no downside if someone accesses this account, “Email123” is the normal password. I have enough passwords to remember – might as well make this one easy.
Free email is available everywhere, from Yahoo to Gmail to mail.com. For this level of account, you can use pretty much any email. And if it starts getting cluttered, delete it and move on to a new one.
Real, but not life-altering
This middle level is where I place online shopping, credit cards, and actual accounts. If you need to be able to respond to an email or offer as you then this is where that should go. If you really wanted to be thorough, you could split money and non-money here, but that might be a little overkill.
With this level, I use at least part of my real name. Perhaps an initial and last name so those receiving it treat it seriously. You can use one of the above-mentioned email providers or a more secure option like ProtonMail or Tutanota.
Secure email
I provide my secure email address to my bank, brokerage, family and trusted friends. That’s it. The last thing I want is this address being spammed or filled with ads. I tie this email into the most secure browser as well. This is not the place for your email address to be tendervittles@meowmeow.com.
This is the place to use a secure email provider. Consider looking overseas – not only are they more focused on privacy but they also don’t allow government snooping at the same level as Yahoo or Gmail. In addition to the two I mentioned above, Mailfence and Mailbox.org received positive reviews.
What to do with Gmail
Gmail can be a good junk account when you’re using a fake name and don’t care what they track. If you compartmentalize your browsers, Gmail would be an especially good junk email choice on a Chromium browser that deletes your personal information when it’s closed.
If you are using Gmail for real life, consider getting rid of it. I realize that’s easier said than done. Many of you are required to have Gmail for work or school. If so, use Gmail ONLY for work or school and in a completely separate browser. Treat it like it’s got the flu.
Work Email
Work email should be for work. Even if allowed by your company, if you use work email for personal reasons you can expect no level of privacy. Your company owns your computer and the network, and maintains the right to delve into anything that’s done on them. Similarly, if you check personal email on a work computer/network, they can track and record anything even if it’s your personal account.
Whether you’re in business for yourself or working 9-5 for a big corporation, keep your business and personal email separate.
One-time accounts
The tiered setup is a long-term plan for keeping your email organized and your data private. However, if you are about to shop for a car or start looking for a job, consider setting up a short-term, one-time account. One of the best ways to get a good deal on a car is to be able to go into the dealership with an offer in hand and have them compete. But to get that emailed offer, you’re going to have to go through a lot of spam from dealerships that continues seemingly forever. You don’t want this in your real account.
Create an account using a free email provider, then have all the offers go to that one account. You now have one place to see them, they don’t have your secure address, and when you’ve purchased the car you can simply delete the account.
It’s like my overstuffed closet
You may be coming into this thinking there’s no way you can organize your email life. However, there’s an easy way to go about it. Start with what you want most secure – in my mind that would be banking and money – and move those to a more secure email address. Add trusted friends and family along the way or any other email that you want directed to the most secure option.
Then consider the middle tier – what email do you want delivered to this account? Create another email address and over time move email into this new account. What is left will be mostly junk. You can keep the account or delete it and start over.
How many do you need?
Email can become part of our personality, like a brand. There will be times in your personal and professional life when you want to promote a specific side of yourself to others. Other times, you’ll want to be anonymous. With no limit to free email accounts – not to mention the ease of setting them up – you can have as many as you need to manage your online presence while maintaining a little privacy.
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