I started looking into email alias services like SimpleLogin, Addy, etc. and I’m wondering if I really need it. Here’s why:
My email provider has domain alias functionality. I can connect multiple domains to it. Let’s say I’m ratm@domain1.com.
I can buy domain2.com and create an email address called anon@domain2.com. All emails (to both addresses) will land in the same inbox.
I can also create a catch-all email address so that I can create login unique emails for each service, like: lemmy@domain2.com, mastodon@domain2.com, etc.
So I guess my question is: What do I get from an email alias service that I’m not already getting from my email provider?
Is it maybe that I won’t be able to reply from the service emails? Like, would I not be able to reply from lemmy@domain2.com since it’s only a catch-all? So I can receive mail to it, but can’t send from it?
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What I also do with mine is create a new alias for each thing I give my email to, and label which service it was. That way, if they sell my email onto someone else I’ll know exactly who did it, and if I want to unsubscribe from something I don’t have to go through their whole process and trust them to honour it, I can just nuke the alias and then it’s their problem lol
Replyjng (or sending email outright from one of the aliases) and management are the two biggest features. It’s very easy to just click a button and disable/enable an alias. Creation is also much simpler (unless you do a catchall)
Interesting. Wouldn’t it be easier with a catch-all? Like if I walk into a business and they ask me for an email I could give them business1@domain.com. And then business2@domain.com for the business next door.
Easier/more convenient? Yeah for sure.
It’s more of a preference in terms of how you wanna deal with possible spam. For instance, I have 2 domains and in one of them I need to create every single email before it’s available. It’s more cumbersome, but it prevents someone emailing me on say admin@mydomain.com.
The other person chooses the convenience, so when they give out any Email@theirdomain.com the alias is automatically created. You can still disable any alias after the fact, but nothing prevents that first email from you.
For me, it’s that I can make email addresses that are not able to be identified/associated with each other. Meaning alias1@yourcustomdomain.com and alias2@yourcustomdomain.com are clearly both the same identity. It’s a fingerprint. This may not be one of your privacy concerns.
Fair enough. So do you do a custom domain for every single service you use?
My aliasing service provides multiple domains to chose from whenever I create a new address. I try to mix them up but no, there aren’t enough to have a different one for every single service. But together with the fact that I’m not the only user they have using those domains, I feel there’s enough obscurity.
I think convenience, replies and encryption (where applicable) by default are the main benefits. Using Proton Pass + Simple Login is cool integration btw. Makes things so much easier.
