An email alias is a second address that delivers into the same inbox as your main one. Mail sent to the alias arrives next to everything else, but the sender never learns your real address.
It sounds like a small convenience. Used consistently, it is one of the most effective privacy habits you can build.
The problem aliases solve
Every time you type your address into a form, you hand out a permanent identifier. Shops, newsletters and apps store it, share it with partners, and sometimes lose it in a breach. Once your real address is on a spam list, you cannot take it back. Your only option is a new address, which means updating every account you have.
An alias breaks that chain:
- A leak exposes one alias, not your main address.
- You can see who leaked it. If spam arrives at the alias you only gave to one shop, you know exactly where it came from.
- You can switch it off without touching anything else.
Random and custom aliases
There are two common kinds.
A random alias is a generated address such as mail-7hw2rt0e5nqa@neirmail.com. It reveals nothing about you, cannot be guessed, and cannot be linked to your other aliases. It is ideal for one-off sign-ups, trials and anything you do not fully trust.
A custom alias is one you name yourself, like shopping@ or travel@. It is easier to remember and works well for categories of mail you want to keep separate.
Aliases in Neir
Every Neir account can create aliases from webmail.
- Free includes 10 random aliases.
- Pro, at $4.99 a month, removes the limit, adds custom aliases you name yourself, and lets you use the neir.io domain as well as neirmail.com.
All of them deliver into the same mailbox, so there is nothing extra to check. Combine aliases with filters and you can sort mail by the address it was sent to, which makes it obvious when a service starts passing your address around.
A simple way to start
You do not have to replace everything at once.
- From today, give every new sign-up its own alias instead of your main address.
- Keep your main address for people you actually know.
- When an alias starts receiving spam, turn it off.
After a few months, most of the mail you do not want will be arriving at aliases, and your main address will stay quiet.
What aliases do not do
An alias hides your main address from the sender. It does not hide the content of the mail from your provider, and it does not make you anonymous to a service that also has your name, card number or phone number.
Aliases work best as one layer: an account created without your phone number, accessed without exposing your IP address, at a provider that does not build a profile of you.
You can create a free account with 10 random aliases at neir.io/signup.
Photo: Jerry Kiesewetter on Unsplash.