Throw-Away Email Addresses
~~Mike Baynes, MikesWhatsNews

Now why would you want a 'throw-away email address'?

Have you ever wondered how your email address ended up a Spammers list?

Often we buy a program or hardware for our computers.  Of course we register it and provide our email address, but did you read the fine print?  Did you consent to receiving promotions from their 'partners'.

Despammed is the Internet's premiere Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) filtering service.
http://www.despammed.com/index.html
" With a Despammed email alias, you can register at Web sites, post on newsgroups and sign guestbooks without worry. "

Frequently what they consider partners are what we consider spam.  This is where the throw away address comes in handy.  It is an address that you sign up for from a site providing 'free email addresses'.

Free Email Address Directory -
http://www.emailaddresses.com/
"Welcome to the best email resource on the Web! You'll find reviews of hundreds of free email services and for-fee email services, advice on using email, a guide to setting up your own email service and more."

There are also sites which provide time-limited addresses which you use specifically to register for sites that you suspect may not respect your rights to privacy.

Most email addresses @lte.gremlin.ca expire after a set period of time (usually 7-14 days).
http://www.gremlin.ca/lte/
"If you have been directed to this page by an error message in a returned email, it is likely that the email address you sent your message to has expired."

There are also email forwarding services, which will allow you to use a free address which will forward the email to you.

Bigfoot Email Tools
http://www.bigfoot.com/ef/en/index.jsp
"Your permanent home on the web that provides a comprehensive range of leading-edge email management services for life."

You can use one of these, and have your regular email program set up to automatically discard the messages from that address.  Actually you can set up your email filters and rules to automatically discard any messages sent to your 'throw away address'.

See Email Filters and Rules:
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v13/mike13.htm

Of course, there are robots that can scan web pages to obtain email addresses, so use a graphic for your email address, then the 'bots' can't see it.

Another method of obtaining email addresses is to take your address out of posts to online lists and groups.  Be creative - use your Yahoo, Hotmail, or other throw-away address.

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Mike Baynes is the editor of MikesWhatsNews .  To subscribe, send a blank email to mikeswhatsnews-request@freelists.org?Subject=subscribe

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