PHOENIX — Spam, discounts, and promotions — if you're tired of email clutter, there's a way to cut it down and find out what companies are selling your information.
During the holiday shopping season, it's inevitable to sign up for a rewards program here or a promotional discount there, but the emails don't stop. They just keep coming, and that's the problem. But you could use your email alias.
An email alias is basically an alternative email address with the same account. Think of it like having a second phone line.
"It's just another way to communicate that does not expose your primary email account," said Ken Colburn, founder of Data Doctors.
Colburn says think about all the different areas of your email life: travel, shopping, newsletters, financial matters, free trial offers — all of them could have their own email alias.
"It can automatically manage messages that come into your inbox instead of everything being in one place," Colburn said.
For instance, if you're an Amazon user, you can create a Gmail account that adds to the word "Amazon" by simply adding the plus key (+) or a dot (.), then add the word "Amazon."
"So, if it's 'ken@gmail.com' I can do 'ken+amazon@gmail.com' and that will still flow to my inbox," Colburn explained. "But because I've got that, I can then label all messages that go to that alias to a specific area so that I can keep everything separated."
Most importantly, you can figure out who's selling your information. The feature allows you to track data leaks because if you get spam sent to the alias address, you will then know who sold it.
"You start to use (email alias) for all your loyalty programs, you (can) use +loyalty; for all your credit card interactions, you (can) use plus cc," Colburn said.
Email aliases can also simplify unsubscribing.
"It's a two-stage process, first you are creating an alias that can be used to then filter secondary messages based on that alias, so that the power of alias in email," Colburn explained.
Hopefully it's another way to cut down the spam and scams that try to infiltrate your inbox.
"It may be a little hard to get your head around, but once you start using them, it's almost like magic it's a way to really lighten the load on your inbox," Colburn added.
Who supports email aliases?
Gmail is the most popular to offer aliases.
Outlook.com will allow you to create multiple aliases.
Yahoo Mail does not support aliases but does offer disposable email addresses.
Apple/iCloud Mail allows you to create up to 3 aliases.
Want to set up an alias?
For Gmail:
Go to settings, which is the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner. Then, click All Settings. Last, click Filters and Blocked Addresses.
Click create a new filter. Use the 'To' field to enter your alias (e.g. ken+shopping@gmail.com).
Select your actions (i.e. skipping the inbox, mark as read, etc.).
Need more help? Click here.
