Many people use emails on a daily basis since this form of communication offers a convenient solution to share information with work colleagues, family, friends and more. We used to believe that our emails were private and that they could only be seen by the sender and the recipient. However, over the last few years it has become clear that there are many eyes monitoring our email communications.
While Gmail is still a highly popular email service, Google’s intrusive practices have caused concern among email users and many of them are looking for alternatives to ensure that their information remains private. Setting up an anonymous email address is a good option to defend your communications from prying eyes. Although it is not possible to be completely anonymous, there are some things that you can do to make it very difficult for others to access your emails. With an anonymous email account, you’ll be able to enjoy a greater level of protection for your privacy.
How to set up an anonymous email account
It is important to keep in mind that in order to make you emails anonymous, you need to do more than just using an anonymous email account with a fake name. Even if you do this, you can still be traced through cookies, which are small files that are stored on your computer and that can track the websites that you visit. In order to tackle cookies, you need to set your browser to private mode.
In addition, your IP address may also be used to identify you since it is the unique address that shows details such as your Internet Service Provider and location. The IP address is what identifies your computer and since it is assigned by your ISP, it can eventually lead to you, if anyone is following your steps on the internet. In order to enhance your online anonymity, it is crucial that you change your IP address even before you set up an anonymous email address.
You can use a VPN service to disguise your IP address since this technology allows you to connect to a secure server in a different location. What others see when they check your IP address is the one of the VPN provider and not your real IP address. When it comes to choosing a VPN service, it is important that you go for one that doesn’t keep logs of your online activities. Private Internet Access, NordVPN, TorGuard, PureVPN and ExpressVPN are very popular, reliable and they don’t log your internet traffic.
Below are the steps that you need to follow in order to enjoy protect your email communications. Keep in mind that first, you would need to sign up for a VPN service that doesn’t keep logs.
- Connect to the internet, making sure that your browser and all applications are closed.
- Launch your VPN and select a server to connect to
- Open a private window of the browser of your choice. Make sure that you have previously deleted the history and that you are not signed into your Facebook, Google or any other service. This will help you to prevent others from tracking you.
- The next thing that you need to do is to choose an email provider that is designed to enhance your privacy and anonymity.
Choosing an anonymous email account service
It is possible to find a selection of services designed to keep your emails anonymous. While some rely on advertisement to exist, others are non-profit efforts that are focused on helping people to defend their privacy for free. Below you will find a list of options available.
Guerrilla Mail
Guerrilla Mail is a disposable email service that offers a simple and effective way to keep your email communications as anonymous as possible. You can receive and send emails without exposing your identity. The messages can’t be traced back to you and since the inbox is temporary (it is only available for one hour), all the data is deleted, without leaving any trace. You don’t need to sign up to use Guerrilla Mail and you get up to 150MG to send files.
Hide My Ass
Hide My Ass is a very popular name in the VPN industry and it is known for its impressive global coverage and for the variety of services that it offers. One of the free solutions that it offers is an anonymous email. Although you need to register for the service and it only works for receiving mails, it is a convenient option if you need an email that is not temporary. When an email is received, you get a notification to your real email address. You can use the anonymous Hide My Ass email instead of your true email address when you prefer to keep it private.
Hushmail
Hushmail is endorsed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and it is one of the most popular premium solutions to protect your online anonymity. For $49.99 per year, you get 10GB of storage and strong security for your email communications. However, it should be noted that Hushmail focuses on offering protection from security threats like hacking. They cooperate with government organizations so if you are looking for complete anonymity this may not be the best solution.
EmailOnDeck
This is another easy to use temporary email address that is easy to use and that will allow you to enhance your online anonymity. In just two steps, you can create an email and the messages received to that email can be checked on the browser. A new email address can be generated with a single click.
ProtonMail.com
If you want to enjoy better protection for your privacy consider ProtonMail, a service that came to life following a highly successful crowdfunding campaign. It provides end-to-end encryption and it can be a practical tool to defend your email communications from hacking and online monitoring. The free service gives you 50MB, but you can pay $5 to increase the inbox storage space to 1 Gig.
