Temporary inbox
Best for testing, verification codes, and one-time downloads. Available for 3 hours by default, extendable up to 24 hours, and not suitable for account recovery.
Expose fewer long-term identifiers
Real Email Exposure Risk Check
Your email address is often used as a login name, marketing identifier, and cross-site matching signal. Answer five questions to decide whether this time is worth giving up your long-term address.
Five-question check
Start by considering how long the relationship will last
We do not collect your answers or build a personal profile. Simply assess each point: the higher the risk, the more you should keep your real email behind an isolation layer.
Temporary email is not suitable for important accounts
Use an email address you control long term for banking, work, healthcare, payments, and any account that requires recovery. Enable multi-factor authentication as well.
Do you trust the service operator?If there is no clear organization, privacy information, or contact channel, reduce your exposure.
Will you need to receive messages long term after signing up?A temporary address works for a one-time download; ongoing notifications are better suited to a manageable alias.
Will the email be used for account recovery?If the answer is yes, you must choose a long-term email address you control.
Can you stop this stream of email on its own?An independent alias can be paused or deleted without affecting your other accounts.
Will the emails contain sensitive information?Do not use a public, shared, or short-term receiving identity for sensitive matters.
Choose an identity based on the result
Three email types, three different responsibilities
Privacy is not about pursuing anonymity at all costs; it is about matching an identity's lifespan to the task's lifespan.
Forwarding alias
Best for subscriptions, shopping, and long-term services. Messages arrive in your real inbox; the alias can be paused or deleted, with messages archived on the site for 30 days.
Long-term email
Best for high-value accounts, formal correspondence, and identities that must always be recoverable. Use it with a strong password and multi-factor authentication.
After exposure
If spam starts increasing
First identify which address received the message, and do not click unsubscribe links in unknown emails. An independent alias can be paused; for your real email, combine sender rules, spam reports, and an account security check.
Confirm the source
Check the recipient address, sender domain, and first-seen date to identify where the address may have been exposed.
Close the entry point
Pause or delete the relevant alias. For important accounts, update the linked address before disabling the old identity.
Check your account
If you also see suspicious logins or password-reset emails, change your password immediately and review active sessions.
Re-segment your identities
Going forward, create separate identities for shopping, communities, and testing to limit the impact of any single exposure.