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Email is great. We love it. We use it for everything: be it work or staying in contact with old acquaintances, confirming our identity online, or work. It’s quick and everyone knows how to use it. But there’s one issue: regular email communications can be personally identifiable on both ends.
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A time may come when, for whatever reason, you need more privacy than the regular email protocols provide. Well, this is where anonymous email services can help. From the sender name to the meta data and IP address, an anonymous email provides a secure and private line of communication. Today, we’re looking at anonymous emails. Let’s jump in.
How do anonymous email accounts work?
Anonymous email accounts focus on providing the best possible encryption algorithms to ensure the privacy of the email’s content, subject line, meta data, and even the sender's IP address. Some services that provide anonymous email addresses follow zero-knowledge and no-log policies, which means that no personally identifiable information is needed when signing up for the service and your email activity is not tracked or recorded.
Why do you need an anonymous email account?
You can have a variety of reasons why you might need to use anonymous email services for communication purposes. You might be a journalist who wants to discuss sensitive topics that require anonymous communication with sources. Human rights activities are another group that might require anonymity of communication while working for their cause. The same privacy concerns apply to whistleblowers, who are well versed in the practices of private communication. Today, even normal everyday individuals might be looking for a way to take care of their privacy online. An untraceable email account could be one of the essential tools.
How can you send an anonymous email without being traced?
So you decide that you want to send an anonymous email but are not sure how to do it. Well, here is a quick guide that outlines ways to send messages via email that can’t be traced back to you.
Create a new email account
Set up a completely new email account with any of the popular email service providers. However, during the signup process, avoid using any personally identifiable information. Use a faux name, address, day of birth, and anything else that the service might require to complete the sign up. This way, the new email account will not be related to you. However, remember that most popular email service providers will not hide your IP address, which can be used to trace the messages back to you.
Use a “burner” email account
Burner email accounts, also often referred to as temporary emails, expire within a specific timeframe. They are designed for private communication so you do not have to compromise your security and privacy needs. Keep in mind that burner email services can be limited because some will allow you to send messages, while others will only allow you to receive incoming communications.
Use a VPN
Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is another option to improve your privacy online and stay anonymous over email communications. A VPN can make and change your IP address associated with your device, meaning that tracking your activity online will not be possible.
Use an encrypted and anonymous email provider
Encrypted and anonymous email providers work in basically the same way as regular email providers. The main difference between the two is that encrypted email service providers include end-to-end encryption, which ensures that the communication is much safer.
Top anonymous email providers
ProtonMail
Based in Switzerland and protected by Swiss privacy laws, ProtonMail provides end-to-end encryption and a zero-knowledge policy, which means that it does not have any clue about who you are or where you’re from.
Tutanota
Tutanota is a Germany-based secure email provider. Alongside email services, Tutanota offers users features such as encrypted search, a zero-knowledge calendar, and a secure connection. While these are great, it is also important to consider that Tutanota is located in one of the Fourteen Eyes countries, which could be important if you want complete privacy.
Secure Email
Secure Email is a simple, free, yet very secure way to ensure the anonymity of your email communications. The provider does not log any data, hides your IP, and offers secure and anonymous SMS communications.
Guerrilla Mail
Founded in 2006, Guerrilla Mail has been in the business of providing anonymous and secure email communication for more than 15 years. It provides a simple user interface with advanced security. One of the best things about Guerrilla Mail is that it is completely free.
StartMail
StartMail, like other encrypted email providers, does not collect user information and does not sell any data. Each account has its own encrypted safe for storing emails. StartMail is great for both private and business users who want to keep email messages private and anonymous. Every message is encrypted before going out to ensure only the intended recipients can read it.
Security tips to protect your anonymous email accounts
While the encrypted email provider ensures that your communications remain anonymous, it is still critical to ensure that your encrypted email accounts are protected adequately. Here are some pointers that will help you fortify the security of your encrypted email account.
Don’t reuse passwords or usernames
If you are striving for privacy and security online, one of the best ways to ensure your anonymity is not to reuse usernames. Sure, it can be taxing to come up with a new username every time you create a new account, but with our Username Generator, it can be done quickly and easily.
Reusing passwords, as many of us are well aware, is not a great idea. Having a single password for multiple accounts puts all of them at risk. For ultimate security, you should use complex and unique passwords for every single account. This is where our Password Generator comes in handy. It allows you to create strong and unique passwords with just a few clicks.
Use a password manager
Remembering large quantities of unique passwords can feel daunting. It can seem outright impossible. Well, password managers are tools that can help. A password manager such as NordPass can not only remember passwords for you but also automatically fill them whenever you want to access any of your online accounts. Furthermore, NordPass comes equipped with advanced security tools such as Password Health, which is designed to identify whether any of your passwords are weak, reused, or old. At the end of the day, online life is easier and safer with a reliable password manager at your fingertips.
Don’t provide personal information in emails
You can use encrypted email services combined with a VPN and other security and privacy tools, but all of that effort goes to waste if you end up including personally identifiable information within messages. Refrain from providing information such as your name, address, social security number, photos, or other details that can be traced back to you.
Don't use your anonymous email account to sign up for other services you use in daily life
This tip is closely related to the previous point. It is critical to understand that if you wish to achieve anonymity via an encrypted email account, using it to sign up for accounts on social media or other platforms is a big no. Do that and all the anonymity that you worked towards is out the window.