Shielding Your Privacy: The Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Email Tracking

Email

For 50 years, email has been a popular method of communication. The very first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson back in 1971, as a test email to himself. The protocol smtp has been used to send emails since 1981, while imap was introduced in 1988. Encryption for emails did not become a priority until fairly recently, with the introduction of PGP in 1991 and s/mime in 1995. Today, email communication is at risk due to tracking pixels and tracking links used in emails to monitor the recipient’s behavior. To avoid being tracked, it is suggested to disable the automatic loading of images and link scanning. Platforms like Apple and Hey have built-in features to prevent tracking. Encrypted communication, such as PGP, is challenging for both experts and ordinary users to set up and maintain. Despite this challenge, email traffic today is largely encrypted through TLS/SSL and is expected to increase in the future.