Email privacy basics: tracking pixels, hide-my-email and safe unsubscribing

Email feels private — it’s addressed to you, after all. But most commercial email is quietly instrumented: senders can often tell when you opened a message, roughly where you were, which device you used and which links you clicked. Meanwhile your address itself travels between companies, data brokers and, occasionally, breached databases.

The good news is that a few settings and habits close most of these gaps. Here’s what’s going on and what to do about it.

How email tracking works

Tracking pixels

A tracking pixel is a tiny, usually invisible image embedded in an HTML email. Its address contains a unique identifier for you and that specific message, for example:

<img src="https://track.example.com/open?id=8f3a1c..." width="1" height="1" alt="">

When your mail app loads images, it requests that file from the sender’s server. The request tells the sender:

• That you opened the email, and when (and how many times).
• Your IP address, which reveals approximate location and sometimes your network or employer.
• Information about your mail client and device from the request headers.

Tracked links

Links in marketing emails usually point to a redirect server first, with an identifier in the URL, before sending you to the real destination. This records which links you clicked and when. Sometimes the identifier is passed along to the destination website, linking your browsing there to your email address.

Why it matters

Individually, an “opened” event is minor. But combined over time, it builds a profile of your habits and interests, confirms your address is active (making it more valuable to spammers), and can reveal your location.

How to reduce email tracking

Block remote images by default

Most mail apps can stop images loading automatically:

• Gmail (web): Settings → General → Images → “Ask before displaying external images”. Gmail also routes images through its own proxy, which hides your IP address from senders — though by default, image loading can still reveal that a message was opened.
• Apple Mail: Mail Privacy Protection (Settings → Apps → Mail → Privacy Protection on recent iOS versions; Mail → Settings → Privacy on Mac) loads remote content privately in the background and hides your IP address. This makes open-tracking largely unreliable.
• Outlook and Thunderbird both offer options to block external content and download pictures only when you choose to.

Menu names change between versions, so search your app’s settings for “images”, “remote content” or “privacy” if these paths don’t match.

Be thoughtful about links

• Prefer navigating to a site directly over clicking tracked email links, when it’s easy to do so.
• Some browsers and extensions strip common tracking parameters from URLs automatically.
• Never click links in suspicious emails at all — see our phishing checklist.

Read plain text when you can

Some clients let you view messages as plain text, which shows no images and makes link destinations obvious. It’s not practical for everything, but useful for anything that feels off.

“Hide my email” features, explained

Several services now generate unique, random addresses that forward to your real inbox — Apple’s Hide My Email (with iCloud+, and built into Sign in with Apple), Firefox Relay, DuckDuckGo Email Protection, SimpleLogin and addy.io among them. They’re all forms of forwarding alias.

What they do:

• Hide your real address from the site you sign up to.
• Give each service a different address, so they can’t be linked by email alone and you can see who leaks it.
• Let you disable an address that starts receiving spam.

Some also strip known trackers from forwarded mail. DuckDuckGo Email Protection, for instance, removes many common tracking pixels and link trackers before forwarding.

What they don’t do:

• They don’t make you anonymous to a service you log into — your activity there is still your activity.
• They don’t encrypt your email.
• They depend on the provider continuing to operate; plan an exit if you rely on one heavily.

Compared with a temporary email, which disappears after a short time, an alias is meant to last. Our comparison guide covers when to use which. At AloMail we’re building the disposable inbox first, with custom forwarding aliases planned for later.

Unsubscribing safely

Unsubscribing is the right move for legitimate senders you no longer want — but it’s not always safe.

Safe to unsubscribe

• Companies you recognise and actually signed up with.
• Messages where your mail app shows its own Unsubscribe button near the sender’s name. This uses the standard List-Unsubscribe header, and since 2024 Gmail and Yahoo have required large bulk senders to support one-click unsubscribe.

Using your mail app’s built-in button is the safest route, because it doesn’t involve opening a web page.

Not safe to unsubscribe

• Unknown senders you never dealt with.
• Obvious scams, phishing or anything malicious.
• Messages where the “unsubscribe” link asks you to log in or enter your email address and password.

For these, clicking “unsubscribe” can confirm your address is active or lead to a malicious page. Report as spam and delete instead.

If unsubscribing doesn’t work

Reputable senders should stop within a reasonable time — in the US, CAN-SPAM requires opt-outs to be honoured within 10 business days. If messages continue after that, block the sender and report as spam. If the address was an alias, simply turn it off.

A simple email privacy setup

Layer	What to do
Mail app	Block remote images or enable your app’s privacy protection
Main address	Reserve for banks, government and close contacts
Everyday sign-ups	One forwarding alias per service
Throwaway sign-ups	A temporary inbox
Unwanted mail	Unsubscribe from known senders; report the rest
Security	Strong unique passwords and two-factor authentication

Other quick wins

• Check breaches for your address at Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com), and change any reused passwords.
• Remove your address from public pages, old profiles and CVs posted online.
• Review app permissions for third-party apps connected to your mailbox, and remove ones you no longer use — they may be able to read your mail.
• Be careful with “Sign in with…” buttons: check what information is shared, and choose to hide your email when the option exists.

Key takeaways

• Tracking pixels and tracked links tell senders when you open emails and what you click.
• Blocking remote images, or using Apple’s or Gmail’s protections, removes much of that tracking.
• Hide-my-email features are forwarding aliases: great for privacy, not for anonymity.
• Unsubscribe from senders you know; report and delete everything else.

For the bigger picture on reducing unwanted mail, see how to stop spam emails for good.