Technology

OK but it's not even remotely close today.

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: [email protected]

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.
• If you updated your records to point to the new provider, you’re done. It’s that simple. You won’t miss an email.

Edit: All providers make it very simple to set up a custom domain. If you can follow instructions and copy and paste text, their systems will run checks to make sure you did it correctly and it’s syncing properly. Very easy for those who aren’t technical.

My email provider will auto-generate aliases with no limit, and I also subscribe to Mozilla Firefox Relay, which allows me to invent email addresses on the fly and have them relay emails to my inbox. The advantage of the Firefox Relay is that it isn't tied to the email provider so if I switch provider the aliases can still work.

Yes, and Bitwarden+SimpleLogin. Bitwarden to keep track of login info including the alias that is used for that site. SimpleLogin is where the aliasing is actually handled, they have a decent UI for enabling/disabling or generating reverse aliases (for outgoing emails) when needed.

It does take a little more effort to manage it, but it’s worth the payoff. I’ve been using this setup for about 9 months now and I finally got my first spam email a week ago. I looked at the address it was sent to, it was an alias I used at a site I ordered something from about 6 months ago. I sent them a message letting them know that either someone at their company is selling customer info to scammers or their database has been leaked, then I shut off the alias. No more spam.

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.

Password manager plus an emailing alias service. Protonpass integrates with SimpleLogin but there’s also ones like Firefox relay and anomaly (all open source)