Email Privacy

If you use Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo — technically, yes.

How it works:

Your emails sit on their servers. They’re encrypted in transit, but the company has the keys. Automated systems scan emails for keywords, profiling, and “product improvement.”

The legal issue:

Providers hand over emails when legally requested. Governments request email data regularly.

The “free” trade-off:

Free email means your data is the product.

See: Secure email options that can’t read your messages.

Email built for privacy from the start.

What makes it secure:

• End-to-end encryption (only you and recipient can read)
• Zero-access (provider can’t see your emails)
• No scanning for ads
• Based in privacy-friendly countries

The catch:

If you email someone on Gmail, it arrives unencrypted there. Both sides need secure email for full protection.

Switching is easy:

• Import old emails
• Keep old address as backup
• Transition gradually

See: Secure email recommendations

Your inbox is basically a biography — password resets, bank statements, medical info, personal conversations.

The risks:

• Data breaches expose years of your life
• Account takeover = access to everything
• Authorities can request your entire history

What to do:

• Delete what you don’t need
• Download important stuff locally, then delete emails
• Search for sensitive keywords and clean up
• Use email aliases for signups
• Consider switching to secure email going forward

You wouldn’t keep every piece of mail from the last decade. Your inbox shouldn’t be different.

An alias is a secondary email address that forwards to your real inbox.

Why use them:

• Give each website a unique address
• Know who sold your data (spam reveals which alias leaked)
• Block spam by disabling one alias
• Keep your real email private

Example:

Sign up for a store with shop-amazon@youralias.com. If spam starts coming, you know Amazon leaked it — and you can disable just that alias.

Options:

• Some email providers include aliases
• Dedicated alias services let you create unlimited addresses
• Some let you reply FROM the alias too

Using aliases means one data breach doesn’t expose your main email everywhere.

See: Email recommendations for providers with alias features.

Not really. Standard email attachments have several privacy issues.

Problems:

• Attachments aren’t encrypted (even with secure email, sometimes)
• They’re stored on multiple servers
• Recipients can forward them anywhere
• Files contain metadata (your name, location, edit history)

Before sending sensitive files:

• Use encrypted file sharing instead of attachments
• Password-protect sensitive documents
• Strip metadata from files before sending
• Consider if email is the right way to share

Better alternatives:

• Encrypted cloud storage with share links
• Secure file transfer services
• End-to-end encrypted messaging for small files

Assume any attachment you send could be seen by others or forwarded endlessly.