Email marketing is the cheapest mode of online marketing. Hence, eCommerce websites, blog sites, tech journals, research paper publishers, and even free stock photo sites ask for email-based registration. Though responsible website publishers and eCommerce businesses respect personal privacy and choice for promotional emails, not all website/app owners behave the same way. These websites, cloud apps, and eCommerce sites are the hot mediums for hacking targets. Hence, a hacking attack on such web properties can leak your emails to bad actors on the internet. To escape such online privacy risks, you must know what are disposable email addresses, how they work, some dedicated tools, etc. Read on to learn more!
What Is a Disposable Email Address (DEA)?
You can use a DEA account instantly and let go without worrying about personal data theft. Unlike Gmail or Outlook email, you do not need to submit a ton of data to signup for a disposable email. Thus, without going through a hectic process like creating usernames, setting a password, and validating a profile using a mobile number or alternate email, you get a fully functional email for a few minutes to hours. You do not own the email. You just use it for a few minutes to verify an email address, get verification OTP, and more to use premium content. Content that needs email signups is super easy to access using a DEA.
Types of DEAs
DEAs go by many names, and some of the popular ones are as below:
Temporary emails Trash emails Throwaway emails Anonymous emails
Email forwarding services are another stream of disposable emailing. Here, you can get a free or paid email forwarding address. You need to use the email on several websites, apps, forums, public Wi-Fi zones, etc., that require an email for signup. The forwarding service will send important emails to your email. When you start getting marketing emails or too many spam emails, you can delete the forwarding email account to keep the personal email clutter-free.
Precaution Needed for Temporary Emails
Do not use a free DEA in an app or website that requires multiple validations via email. Most free throwaway emails expire in a few minutes, so you may not complete the whole process by then. Do not use temporary emails for important tasks like signing up for education sites, job boards, employer domains, etc. Though these are anonymous emails, cyber security experts and law enforcement can still track activities, IP addresses, and more.
How Do Disposable Email Validations Work?
Signup emails are potential leads for email marketers. Hence, businesses use email validation services to detect disposable emails. The validation service includes automation and manual review processes as mentioned below:
#1. Automated Process
First off, email validation APIs and server-side validation apps automatically detect DEA service providers. Some trending domain names include @areosur.com, @tmmwj.net, @guerrillamail.de, @guerrillamail.info, and more. Email recipient server apps immediately block such emails and display an email error to the user. Secondly, you can program your email server with a complimentary email to be sent after 15 to 20 minutes of the first signup email. If the recipient domain’s email postbox cannot deliver the email and displays an error like the address does not exist, there is a high chance that the user has used a DEA.
#2. Manual Process
You can validate the subscribed email list frequently by sending follow-up emails to the users. If you get a delivery signal or click, then the emails are valid. If there are no such signals, then there is a good chance that the emails were temporary addresses on a DEA domain.
Benefits of Disposable/Temporary Email Addresses
#1. Steer Clear of Junk Mail
All of us are tired of getting bombarded by spam and junk emails. No matter how many precautions you take, junk and promotional email are bound to drop by your inbox. But you can use a disposable email address while registering on unimportant websites. Thus, you do not have to deal with the promotional email they might have sent.
#2. Ensure Data Privacy
With cyberspace being at high risk of attacks, even some of the biggest names have found their database to get hacked. During such hacking incidents, email addresses and data associated with those fall into the wrong hands. In the case of less secure websites, the situation can get worse. Using temporary email addresses in all possible situations will keep you safe from online crimes like identity theft and fraud.
#3. Get Rewards Without Disclosing Real Email
Sometimes, we have to share our email addresses to avail of offers and rewards. If you want to enjoy those offers without having to deal with promotional emails, DEAs are here. This address will be temporarily available so you can use it to receive your reward or gift.
#4. Skip Country-Based Restriction
Certain websites require you to enter an email address from a specific country. In such cases, temporary emails will turn out to be highly beneficial.
#5. No More Forgetting Password
Remembering passwords for various email addresses can be tricky for some of us. Even if you remember the password for your original email id, remembering passwords for all the other emails is not easy. As disposable emails don’t have passwords, there will not be any forgetting passwords.
#6. Avoid IP Restrictions
Marketers may need to create a large number of email addresses. If they try to do that from the same IP address, popular email clients can bar them from doing so. With temporary email address service, there is no cap. Hence, one can create as many emails as one wants.
#7. No Risk of Getting Hacked
Regular email addresses can fall prey to phishing and hacking. As a temporary email address exists for a short time, it does not involve any risk of getting hacked.
Disposable Email Address Vs. Alias
Email aliases are also becoming trendy these days. However, there are some fundamental differences between DEAs and Alias emails. Find the differences in the below table:
What Is an Anonymous Email Address?
Anonymous email is another tool to keep your personal and professional data away from the internet. When you create an anonymous email with a service provider, they hide personally identifiable information via encryption. Hence, the recipient email server can not record identifiable data like real name, date of birth, address, mobile number, IP address, sending domain, etc. Anonymous email services use multi-layered encryption. Hence, if someone intercepts the email during transmission, they can not read it.
How to Choose the Best Temporary Email Service
With several temporary email service providers in the market, choosing the right one might be challenging. Also, not all of them are trustworthy and might blackmail you by misusing your private data. Here are some tips you can follow to save you from this trouble while opting for a disposable email address.
#1. No Complex Registration Process
The reason you are using a temporary email address is to avoid creating a regular email id. So, there is no point in choosing a DEA service that needs you to undergo a lengthy registration process.
#2. Free Service
Of course, there is no need to pay for a service like disposable email. While choosing, make sure the service provider does not ever come with any hidden charges or recurring fees. Certain companies might start charging you in the future, so you should also be aware of that.
#3. Easy-to-Use
No one wants to use a temp email service that involves a learning curve! You should go for a temporary email company where you can create a temp email in a jiffy.
#4. Supports Privacy
Privacy has become a major concern for all of us. When you choose a disposable id without registration, you can ensure your data and personal information remain secure. Moreover, there are chances that some companies might blackmail you if you share personal data with them. So, only go for reliable DEA service providers.
#5. Concurrent DEAs
You might need multiple disposable emails to access different websites. Choosing services that offer only a limited number of ids will not work in that case.
#6. Cloud Storage
The DEA service you choose should provide you with a temporary cloud storage service. Thus, you will be able to store necessary information seamlessly.
#7. Reliable
Besides checking if the DEA service provider has all the above features, you need to ensure the company is trustworthy. You can visit software review websites to find out the ratings of the temporary email companies. Visiting its social media accounts for user reviews is another way to discover its reliability.
Disposable Email Address (DEA) Providers
You can use any of the following to fulfill your need for temporary emails:
Temp Mail
Temp Mail helps keep your email secure and clean by offering on-demand temporary email addresses and instant 10-minute emails. The platform is ideal for free throwaway email addresses. However, you can enhance services and reliability by using a premium account. For just $10/mo, you can get 10 concurrent email addresses, extended 100MB cloud storage, web browser compatibility, additional data security, premium domains, and more. You can use its mobile app from App Store and Google Play.
10 Minute Mail
10 Minute Mail is a free disposable email services provider. It does not need you to punch in any personal information to get access to instant throwaway emails. However, the emails last for only 10 minutes. So, ensure that the platform for which you will use a 10 Minute Mail processes all the verifications within this 10-minute time frame. Otherwise, you need to start signing up from scratch.
Guerrilla Mail
Guerrilla Mail offers custom disposable emails with the option to choose the email user name. Once you select a personalized email user name, you can choose from 11 domains like .com, .info, .net, .org, and more. The tool also offers a neat user interface (UI) to compose emails, add addresses, add subjects, and insert attachments.
Disposable Email Addresses: Author’s Note
As an online researcher, marketer, writer, and data privacy enthusiast, I use disposable email addresses on social media, websites, forums, and web apps. This practice keeps me and my clients away from hackers. Using temporary email addresses, you can also separate your professional and personal life from the internet. It is no rocket science that will require an extensive learning curve. You can get started as easily as using Gmail or Yahoo Mail. You need to use a disposable email service provider. Though you will find many free temporary email service providers, it is wise to use a premium tool with a paid plan. Because such paid tools, like Temp Mail, offer automation, concurrent email addresses, extended cloud storage, and ad-free usage. Not to mention extra layers of security that you would love to see.
Wrapping Up
In today’s interconnected world of web apps, websites, and mobile apps, it is easy to discover your online personal data using just an email address. Hackers and scamsters can use the linked email to profile your Internet usage to plan phishing attacks or other social engineering tricks. However, websites and web apps will never stop asking for your personal or professional email for marketing needs. The best option is to rely on a disposable email address service provider mentioned above. Also, you must know this temporary or anonymous email service inside out to use them effortlessly while downloading content, reading articles, or commenting in a forum. Next, you can check out business email hosting.
