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In this edition of Security Bite, we’re revisiting the launch of Gmail in 2004—a significant 20 years ago—because it introduced the underappreciated feature of plus addressing (aliasing). This feature, aimed at aiding email filtering and inbox organization long before the spam crisis escalated, wasn’t heavily promoted by Google, leading many users to remain unaware of its existence. Over time, it has gained favor among privacy-conscious individuals, enabling them to identify which online services and subscriptions might be selling or leaking their email addresses.
This is one of my biggest digital annoyances.
Imagine this: You create a fresh email account, and initially, your inbox is pristine, filled only with emails from services you signed up for, including a couple of welcome messages from your email provider. Fast forward a month or so and after creating some social media accounts, subscribing to newsletters, and hunting for a new vehicle, your inbox is bombarded with hundreds of emails (a.k.a spam) from unfamiliar senders. Some are harmless, while others appear malicious, ruining your day.
The plus addressing feature won’t completely eliminate spam; in fact, it won’t reduce it significantly. However, it empowers you to identify dishonest online entities who mishandle your information.
Plus Addressing in Gmail and Outlook
Both Gmail and Outlook enable plus addressing effortlessly. Simply append an alias using the “+” symbol to your email address. For example: [email protected]
You can use any word after the “+” to track where you’ve shared your email address.
Buying a new car? Try: [email protected]
Creating a new social media profile? Use: [email protected]
And so forth…
All emails from these services will still appear in your inbox normally, but with the added +alias you chose. If you receive an email from a company referencing [email protected], you’ll know exactly where they obtained it.
Using Aliases in iCloud Mail
If you’re an iCloud+ subscriber, you can access the Hide My Email feature, which generates unique, random email addresses that forward to your main account. Although this doesn’t provide the same investigative capability as plus addressing, it allows for more privacy since you can avoid exposing your actual email address altogether. Users can disable a Hide My Email address at any time and select a different personal email for forwarding in their Mail settings.
If you’re not subscribed to iCloud+, iCloud Mail does support email aliases, though it’s limited to a maximum of three aliases per account.
For iCloud Mail Web (not available on macOS or iOS):
Click the gear icon -> Settings -> Account -> Add Alias
On occasion, some online forms may reject the use of plus addressing, leading to errors. I’ve also witnessed discussions about marketing agencies disabling the +alias feature in emails. However, I believe we often underestimate them; they are less meticulous than one might think, and plus addressing is not common enough to pose a significant challenge for them.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Do you find plus addressing beneficial or would you consider using it? Personally, I know I do.
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