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Email Privacy
Email privacy issues including anonymous email, secure email, email encryption, email tracing and more.
Can I be traced by my email address?
Depending on how careful you've been about posting public information about yourself, an email address can lead people to find a lot about you.
Can I find out where my email address has been used?
Most sites that require registration and an e-mail address do not make that information available for searching. In fact, they shouldn't.
Can I prevent my mail from being forwarded by others?
It's not only not possible to prevent email from being forwarded, it's also not possible to prevent that forward from being modified, forged or defaced.
Can encrypted e-mail be sniffed?
Encrypted email cannot be sniffed, but chances are that you aren't using encrypted email. I'll explain what I mean and what you might want to do.
Can my company read the email I send via Hotmail on my work computer?
When sending email on a company owned computer or using a company owned network, the company can watch. They can likely read your email and much more.
Did someone really send me photos on Tagged?
Many people are getting messages from Tagged indicating that a friend has posted photos. Here's a clue: they didn't.
Do email tracking services work?
Tracking services exist which claim to be able to tell you whether or not someone has opened your email. They're only half right.
Does the browser store passwords in cookies?
Once you've logged into a site cookies are often used to keep you logged in for some period of time. There are risks associated with that, and more.
How can I keep my email safe from sniffing?
We'll look at what sniffing is and ways to avoid it.
How can I know that emails I sent were received and opened?
It's very common to want confirmation that an email has been delivered or read. In an age of spam it's simply not possible with any accuracy.
Encrypting email is surprisingly difficult. We'll look at a practical solution that anyone can use, as well as the way it "should" work.
How do I find out who's sending harassing email?
Both children and adults can receive harassing or abusive email. Sadly there's no easy way to trace it back to a sender who doesn't want to be found.
How do I know if someone is opening my email before I read it, then marking it as unread?
Without installing keystroke logging or other spyware on your computer, there's no way to tell if anyone is reading your emails before you do.
How do I send anonymous email?
Many people want to be able to send anonymous email; email for which the sender cannot be identified. It´s easy. And it´s impossible.
How do I send encrypted email?
How do I stop someone from sending me harassing email?
Stopping someone from sending you harassing email is harder than you might expect. Techniques to blocking harassing email are imperfect, at best.
How does blocking pictures in an email protect my privacy?
It's common for email programs to automatically block remote image retrieval. We'll look at why and how spammers and others can use remote images.
How does using BCC help reduce spam?
When forwarded, an email using BCC is one way to reduce the amount of spam your recipients might get as the email is forwarded further.
How easy is it to forge or alter email?
Email is easy, ubiquitous, and almost trivial to forge or alter. We'll look at why that is, what it means, and one approach to avoiding it.
I let a stranger send email from my computer, what could that have done?
It's tempting and even noble to want to help, but letting a stranger access your computer without strict supervision is asking for trouble.
Is Yahoo (or Gmail or Hotmail or ...) reading my email?
Many of the free email services run ads along side your email that are targeted to the content of the message. My opinion? Nothing to worry about.
Is it safe to get receipts and statements in email?
In the quest to go paperless, many companies offer statements and other information in electronic form. I'll look at what's typically safe and secure.
If someone else shares or administers your email account, then your privacy could easily be at risk.
Just how secure is email, anyway?
Email is ubiquitous and convenient, yet surprisingly not very secure. I'll look at why that is and when you should worry.
What can someone tell from my email address?
Email addresses are generally not a gateway to much more than public information, but still use caution when sharing it with someone who you don't trust.
Why am I getting a bounce to an email I sent from someone I didn't send it to?
Often times when you send an email and there's a problem you'll get a bounce in return. If that bounce is from someone else, something might be fishy.
Why are some pictures blocked in email, and how do I stop that?
Blocking remote images in email is a common and important anti-spam technique. We'll look at how to turn it off, and then discuss why you shouldn't.
Why did my email apparently get delivered to the wrong person?
Email addresses are by definition, fairly specific. It's unlikely but malware, misconfiguration or other interference could cause misdeliveries.
Why is it so bad to leave the email addresses in an email I forward?
By forwarding email that includes previously-forwarded email addresses, you're exposing all of those people to a couple of risks and annoyances.
Why should I use a different computer to send anonymous email?
Sending truly anonymous email can be tricky, and just about any piece of semi-consistent data can be used to ID you, often including your machine name.