This is what I do as well. I purchased my own custom domain name and run aliases off it using Addy. So as an example, an email for an online account would look like: ‘random9.words@mycustomemail.com’
Then I feed these accounts into a password manager so I don’t have to remember them.
All the aliases forward mail directly to my main inbox. Companies never see what my real address is. If I get spam, I know which company either sold my data or leaked my data. I can then take action by simply turning off that email alias and then spinning up a new one.
The best thing about owning your custom domain is that you’re in control and never have to change your email addresses. If I want to move to a new email provider, I can easily do that. The process, simplified:
- Buy a domain name
- Sign up for an email account at Tuta, Mailbox, etc.
- Set up your custom domain at that provider.
- Go to your Domain provider and update your MX records so that it syncs with the email provider.
- if you want to switch email providers, get a new one and then update your MX records to point to the new provider.
mbirth@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
My email provider allows for unlimited aliases. So, while I have 600+ email addresses, emails to them all end up in the same mailbox.
The accounts for all the websites and services (with their specific email address) are in a KeePass database and they all have random passwords, too.
The only small issue is when you have to contact support of some service. Then, I have to configure the specific email address in my client so they can match that to my account with them. But most email clients allow multiple sender addresses without having to fiddle with the rest of the settings.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I do this too. The unique email address I create for each is identifiable to the place I’m using it. This has other benefits. If an organization you created and account with sells or has a data breech you know exactly which company it was when you start receiving spam or phishing email directed to that address. This is also nice because you can “black hole” that email address and all the spam goes with it even future spam not sent yet.
mbirth@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
Exactly! I add a random string to each email address, too, so you can’t just guess other addresses. So, it’s usually something similar to
lemmy-r4nd0m@mydomain.me
. And, whenever a breach happens, I’ll generate a new random part and set that as my email address and invalidate the old one. Until the next breach. (Looking at you, LinkedIn…)peereboominc@lemm.ee 4 days ago
That is clever!