"Even if you are not doing anything wrong or not breaking any laws, still you are being watched." Everyone who is using the internet right now wants to be anonymous for various personal reasons. More than 85% of online users have taken some necessary steps to remove their digital footprints. On the other hand, 55% of internet users have said they have taken precautionary measures to remain hidden from specific people, organizations, or governments. There are tons of reasons that could easily make you wish to go offline and not ever come back. But we live in the age of the internet, and without using it, we can't even finish the simple task of sending a birthday message to our loved ones. Emails are one of the most easily targeted ways to get in touch with someone on the internet. Through emails, many scams take place daily. As a result, having an anonymous email is the first thing you should do to keep yourself safe from hackers and scammers. In today's hyper-connected world, it is hard to maintain your privacy, but we are not letting you give up on that thought. Today we will show you some of the methods you can use to leave no digital footprint when sending and receiving emails. Here's a cool thing which you might not know. Anonymity is a Greek word that means the one with "no-name."
What Does It Mean To Have An Anonymous Email?
From the definition of Anonymous, you might think an email with someone else's name or pseudonyms will do the trick of keeping your identity hidden. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Anonymous emails are those emails where the sender's address and personal information are hidden from the recipient. These emails are designed in a way to keep the recipient unaware of the sender's true identity. Thus, more than ever, this form of email is used for unethical electronic message sending.
How Can You Create An Anonymous Account On Gmail?
It's not that difficult to create an anonymous email in the first place. It's more like lying to your parents about the bad exam which you had but with confidence. You can provide all the necessary information which google wants without providing your accurate information. From location to birthday to your age, you can lie about most things and won't ask you to correct them. When it comes to adding your phone number, you can go with a burner you can get from Hushed or Burner applications. Just keep one thing in mind, even a burner has its limitations of keeping you hidden from the online police. Also, Google will be asking you to provide a third-party email address in case of an emergency. In that case, you can choose any email provider, but they must comply to Support Secure Socket Layer encryption. That's all you need to create an anonymous email ID on Gmail. But remember, one login without using the Tor browser will leak your IP address, which is enough for hackers to find who you are. It is one of the standard methods of how general Petraeus is nailed.
Why Do You Need To Have An Anonymous Email?
Below are some of the reasons and benefits of going anonymous when you send or receive an email. In addition to this, we are throwing many tips on how you can protect your identity online.
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Secure Identity
Sometimes you might not want people to know who you are, even if you are not doing anything illegal. With a hidden identity, you get a social safety level in the online world, one of the most important things. On the other hand, you could be a celebrity in your country, but you get no time away from the paparazzi in the real world. With the help of an anonymous email, you could be the one people don't know about at all. You'd be surprised to know how many celebrities have an anonymous identity for their social content consumption.
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Secure From Personal Harassment
When it comes to freedom of expression, online anonymity plays an important role. One of the best ways someone could use the internet is by speaking out what they want to say without fear. You could be vocal on the internet, and at the same time, you can remain silent in the real world. As a result, you don't have to worry about repercussions as long as you are not hurting someone. Kids in schools and colleges get bullied online, and there have been many instances where online bullying leads to depression. In those cases, an anonymous email will keep you safe and your identity hidden from bullies.
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You Can Talk About Sensitive Issues
There might be times when you want to ask something too personal but don't want to be caught seeking out that information. A lot of people fall into this category without even realizing it. A typical example is someone who is struggling with their sexuality. It is hard for them to go in public, and the struggle is real. Well, on the internet, that person could ask the community to help them out without having to worry about getting exposed prematurely. Medical questions also fall under this area. Many times, teenagers are looking for medical answers without wanting their parents to know about it. A person who is having weird bowel movements could consult an online doctor about which part of his digestive system is having issues.
Different Methods To Send Anonymous Emails
You can choose two methods: one is the easy way which most people use, and the other is a long and much secure way.
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Use Burner Email Account
When you are using Gmail, you can send an anonymous email. As we said, you can make an anonymous account on Gmail without providing your basic information. Afterward, you can use that email to send burner mail and stay anonymous. In addition to this, you can add an extra layer of safety by using a VPN. When you send a mail, Gmail will send the originating IP address in the email header. This IP address is the one which is generated by the Google server address rather than your IP address. The server IP address won't be close to your geolocation. Thus, it's a great way to keep your tracks covered while sending a mail.
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Throwaway Email Address
The second method is by sending an email from an email client. Websites provide their users the ability to send emails to someone while remaining completely anonymous. These websites will provide you with a throwaway account, and you cannot log in to these accounts, so you can only send email from them but can't receive any mail on it. Just one thing, when you are using a throwaway account, make sure to have your VPN on as it will send the IP address which the VPN is showing, not your original IP address. It is a much easier way, but the only issue is you don't receive a reply from the person to whom you are sending the email. This type of anonymous email is used for selling or inviting people on websites etc.
Ways to Create Anonymous Email To Protect Your Online Identity
Given below are some of the best web-based mail services which you can use to remain completely anonymous from the receivers and don't have to worry about getting your identity revealed in any possible way.
1. Hushmail
If you are looking for a HIPAA compliant email, this is the right software for sending the emails. The Hushmail makes it easier for you to send documents and links to a receiver at a reasonable price. In addition to this, you can turn on and turn off the encryption based on the individual email and its requirement. It makes it easier for the receiver to read the mail. The only issue with Hushmail was it's a bit expensive when you are looking to send anonymous emails in bulk. You can use hush mail for both personal and business use. Also, it comes with a smartphone appl. Thus, you can create an anonymous email on the go. The email provider also provides special encryption to secure the online forms which you are sending to customers. On the other hand, you can use it as your regular email system to send emails to your customers and clients as it is much secure than Gmail and provides better features and tools than other email-providing websites.
2. Guerrilla mail
To send someone anonymous mail, you need to lie when it comes to providing your personal information. But what if an email client doesn't ask you to do that? Well, Guerilla mail is that one website which doesn't require you to log in to send emails. It provides disposable email, which means the address will exist forever, but it won't be used again. Any messages you get at this address are accessible via guerilla.com, but the information will last only 1 hour. Thus, you get a complete scrambled email address which can be easily copied to a clipboard as well. If you want to use your domain, there's an option to do that, but we don't advise this as it will probably keep you under the radar. It is the best way to create multiple email addresses when trying to sign up on different websites. You can also attach a file of maxim 150 MB file size with your mail. Likewise, you can use this platform to send someone bitcoins, the online currency for anonymous transactions. If you coupled Guerrilla mail with Tor browser, it would make you typically go invisible from the online records.
3. Mailnator
Not sure about the person or the organization, but you still want to give them an email address to get in touch? Well, with the help of Mailnator, you can create an email at an instant by just writing down any name and putting "@mailnator.com" at the end of it. To see if you have received any mails on that particular made-up email, you need to go to their website and write it down. The inbox of the mail will be opened, and you can find if the mail is present or not. There is no sign-up required, but you can sign in using your mail if you want to keep a tap on separate disposable emails. There are certainly some issues with this one, as if two people come up with the same prefix for the mail, you both can access each other's email. Also, there is no sending of anonymous emails, so you need to find another service. If you want to get private mail, you can pay $29 a month and 10MB storage along with it.
4. Cyber Atlantis
Another free and anonymous mail service is Cyber Atlantis which helps users to strip their IP address from the mails which they are sending. Likewise, the user gets a PGP encryption in their mails from this website. As a result, you can send an email while remaining anonymous, and any content you send can only be viewed to a specific person as emails will be encrypted. The content which is on your mail will be completely secure. Only the owner who has both the public and the private key could unlock the message with the private key.
5. ProtonMail
When you need two-way, completely secure email addresses, ProtonMail is the one you should try. ProtonMail is in the business of providing secure emails for quite some time now, and millions of internet users are taking its benefit for both sending and receiving mails. All of the email messages get encrypted when it is sent or received from ProtonMail. Without access to ProtonMail, no one can get your emails doesn't matter how hard they try. On the other hand, the encryption process used a key from your computer so not even their administrators could reach your email when they wanted to. It does have a downside: if you lose your ID or PWD, the recovery is undoubtedly impossible. The whole system's backbone is based on open-source cryptographic libraries, which makes it secure from any back doors that could leak your data.
6. AnonMail
AnonyMouse is the developer behind this anonymous mailing service. It allows you to send emails to different persons using a series of nodes, meaning when you send an email from their end, it will be bounced off from several nodes, making it hard and almost impossible for people to track back your IP address. It is relatively easy to use. You need to put in the recipient's mail the subject if you want to, and a short plain text message. After that, you need to hit the button "Send Anonymously," and you are done. Moreover, the website doesn't track your IP address, so you don't have to be worried about using VPN before sending an email via AnoneMail. One more trick which the website has up in its sleeve is it sends your mail after some buffer time. This buffer will make you more distant from your mail and disassociate you from the sent time, location, and geographical presumptions based on time zones.
7. Thunderbird
Thunderbird provides integration with Google calendar so you can easily schedule your mails according to the days. In addition to this, it has an app that a user can install on both IoS and Android devices. The UI is also clean, and it is easy to navigate and check your mails. It has all the features you will find in a paid email client, but Thunderbird provides it for free. There are several filters that you can use to organize your mail in a better way. Likewise, it allows users to have more than ten email addresses simultaneously, and its intuitive UI makes it easier to manage all of them at the same time. Lastly, one of the main features that many people don't think about is complete customization, and you can change the email UI according to your requirements, and Thunderbird will help you stay anonymous all the time.
8. Zoho Mail
Zoho is famous for its CRM, but it can also be used as a secure mail hosting system for personal and individual use. It gives its users a control panel that enables them to manage the different mailing groups in the same dashboard. You can choose how long you want a specific message to keep the mail in your system. It also provides you with features like comment, tag, and share a file. In addition to this, you can manage all your emails directly from mobile phones. The mailing system is integrated with the CRM so it can be managed alongside the sales. The migration is supported via POP and IMAP.
9. Fastmail
In case you are looking for an anonymous email software that is present in your native language. Then Fastmail is the one which you should likely look for, as it has more than 36 languages. It provides you with several features that could help you manage emails, calendars, along contacts. You can pin those messages in your inbox, which you like and needs to be on the top of your mailing list. You can select a virtual path identifier depending on your need. Email addresses are easily customizable. You can add events that are present in your calendar straight to the emailing system.
10. Posteo
With just $1 a month, you can create an anonymous email with 2GB of secure mail storage at your disposal. The servers are located in Germany, and their values are centered around privacy and sustainability. The first email came up with the idea of using DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE) on their servers. Posteo, more than once, had fought a legal battle to keep their user’s data protected and not to be given in the hands of authorities. It encrypts the data you sent from its servers when the information is in transit or at rest. But it doesn’t offer you automatic end-to-end encryption, which you can find in ProtonMail and Hushmail.
Verdict
Indeed, these were some of the best methods to remain anonymous while you are sending mail to someone, but you should use these websites and email clients only when you desperately need to stay anonymous. Otherwise, sending mail from your actual email address will be the best thing to do when you send it to the office or to some business with whom you partner as it builds a better relationship. Speaking of building relations, you can choose any of these websites to send anonymous mail. Our personal favorites would be Thunderbird and Mailnator for all our emailing needs.
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