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How Your Email Might Be Spying on You GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO News &gt; Smart & Connected Life <h1> How Your Email Might Be Spying on You</h1> <h2> Spy pixels track where, when, and how often you open your emails</h2> By Charlie Sorrel Charlie Sorrel Senior Tech Reporter Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for 13 years. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 1, 2021 03:19PM EST Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire.
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How Your Email Might Be Spying on You GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO News > Smart & Connected Life

How Your Email Might Be Spying on You

Spy pixels track where, when, and how often you open your emails

By Charlie Sorrel Charlie Sorrel Senior Tech Reporter Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for 13 years. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 1, 2021 03:19PM EST Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire.
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Emma Wilson 5 minutes ago
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Chloe Santos 4 minutes ago
It’s thanks to "spy pixels," and they’re everywhere.  Email is just about the least secure ...
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lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Smart & Connected Life Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming <h3> Key Takeaways</h3> Tracker pixels report when and where you opened an email.Many email apps block all images, just to protect you from these pixels.Several email apps and services will detect and block spy pixels. Maxim Ilyahov / Unsplash Did you know that every time you open an email, the sender can see when and where you opened it, how often you opened it, and even what kind of device you read it on?
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Key Takeaways

Tracker pixels report when and where you opened an email.Many email apps block all images, just to protect you from these pixels.Several email apps and services will detect and block spy pixels. Maxim Ilyahov / Unsplash Did you know that every time you open an email, the sender can see when and where you opened it, how often you opened it, and even what kind of device you read it on?
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Scarlett Brown 5 minutes ago
It’s thanks to "spy pixels," and they’re everywhere.  Email is just about the least secure ...
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It’s thanks to "spy pixels," and they’re everywhere.&nbsp; Email is just about the least secure way to communicate. It’s unencrypted, so it can be read by anyone, anywhere along its journey across the internet, like a postcard, not like a sealed letter. But email always has been that way.
Oliver Taylor Member
access_time 3 minutes ago
It’s thanks to "spy pixels," and they’re everywhere.  Email is just about the least secure way to communicate. It’s unencrypted, so it can be read by anyone, anywhere along its journey across the internet, like a postcard, not like a sealed letter. But email always has been that way.
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Ella Rodriguez 1 minutes ago
Tracking pixels are even worse. They give the sender an obscene amount of information about you, wit...
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Tracking pixels are even worse. They give the sender an obscene amount of information about you, without once asking for your permission. What’s going on?
Ryan Garcia Member
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Tracking pixels are even worse. They give the sender an obscene amount of information about you, without once asking for your permission. What’s going on?
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Liam Wilson 6 minutes ago
Can you protect yourself? "The privacy implications are that anyone can see when, and even where...
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Evelyn Zhang 2 minutes ago
When you open the email, it loads all the images contained in the message, including these pixels. B...
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Can you protect yourself? &#34;The privacy implications are that anyone can see when, and even where, you open their email,&#34; Phillip Caudell, developer of privacy-first email app Big Mail, told Lifewire via email. &#34;And unlike read receipts in apps like iMessage or WhatsApp, you can’t opt out, and worse, most people don’t know it’s even happening to them.&#34; <h2> What Is a Tracking Pixel </h2> When an email newsletter is sent to you, it contains a link to a tiny image, perhaps just a single pixel.
Harper Kim Member
access_time 20 minutes ago
Can you protect yourself? "The privacy implications are that anyone can see when, and even where, you open their email," Phillip Caudell, developer of privacy-first email app Big Mail, told Lifewire via email. "And unlike read receipts in apps like iMessage or WhatsApp, you can’t opt out, and worse, most people don’t know it’s even happening to them."

What Is a Tracking Pixel

When an email newsletter is sent to you, it contains a link to a tiny image, perhaps just a single pixel.
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When you open the email, it loads all the images contained in the message, including these pixels. Because the images are loaded from an external server, the sender knows exactly when you opened the containing email. Unless you’ve gotten informed, opt-in consent first, it’s an abuse of privacy and needs to stop.
Elijah Patel Member
access_time 24 minutes ago
When you open the email, it loads all the images contained in the message, including these pixels. Because the images are loaded from an external server, the sender knows exactly when you opened the containing email. Unless you’ve gotten informed, opt-in consent first, it’s an abuse of privacy and needs to stop.
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William Brown 18 minutes ago
No excuses. Because your email app uses its built in web browser to load and display messages, it le...
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No excuses. Because your email app uses its built in web browser to load and display messages, it leaks the same data as a browser, including your IP address, which can reveal your location. Tracking pixels have many purposes.
Hannah Kim Member
access_time 7 minutes ago
No excuses. Because your email app uses its built in web browser to load and display messages, it leaks the same data as a browser, including your IP address, which can reveal your location. Tracking pixels have many purposes.
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Email apps and services use them to tell a sender if and when their messages were opened. This works like read receipts in messaging apps like WhatsApp and iMessage, only the receiver cannot opt out or even know that they are being tracked. Your boss could check to see if you opened that email they sent, for example.
Jack Thompson Member
access_time 24 minutes ago
Email apps and services use them to tell a sender if and when their messages were opened. This works like read receipts in messaging apps like WhatsApp and iMessage, only the receiver cannot opt out or even know that they are being tracked. Your boss could check to see if you opened that email they sent, for example.
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Scarlett Brown 11 minutes ago
It gets worse…

Privacy Emergency

Once you have an IP address, you have the location o...
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Isabella Johnson 15 minutes ago
Spyware company El Toro said that its technology "brings the location-specific accuracy of direct ma...
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It gets worse… <h2> Privacy Emergency </h2> Once you have an IP address, you have the location of that internet connection. From there, you can tie that address to a physical address.
Isaac Schmidt Member
access_time 27 minutes ago
It gets worse…

Privacy Emergency

Once you have an IP address, you have the location of that internet connection. From there, you can tie that address to a physical address.
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Aria Nguyen 9 minutes ago
Spyware company El Toro said that its technology "brings the location-specific accuracy of direct ma...
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Dylan Patel 13 minutes ago
"I don’t care what justification you use," David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founder of HEY email-d...
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Spyware company El Toro said that its technology "brings the location-specific accuracy of direct mail to digital advertising. Through our patented IP Targeting technology we target digital ads to your customer by matching their IP address with their physical address." It promises "targeting without having to use cookies, census blocks, or geo-location tools."&nbsp; Predictably, there’s a lot more. "[Email marketing company Sendgrid] also replaces URLs with their own URLs to track when someone clicks on it," says software developer Jake Humphrey on Twitter.
David Cohen Member
access_time 30 minutes ago
Spyware company El Toro said that its technology "brings the location-specific accuracy of direct mail to digital advertising. Through our patented IP Targeting technology we target digital ads to your customer by matching their IP address with their physical address." It promises "targeting without having to use cookies, census blocks, or geo-location tools."  Predictably, there’s a lot more. "[Email marketing company Sendgrid] also replaces URLs with their own URLs to track when someone clicks on it," says software developer Jake Humphrey on Twitter.
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Ella Rodriguez 8 minutes ago
"I don’t care what justification you use," David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founder of HEY email-d...
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"I don’t care what justification you use," David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founder of HEY email-developer Basecamp, writes on Twitter. &#34;Unless you’ve gotten informed, opt-in consent first, it’s an abuse of privacy and needs to stop. No excuses.&#34; <h2> How Can You Block Spy Pixels </h2> The most basic way to block spy pixels is to never load any images in your email.
Charlotte Lee Member
access_time 55 minutes ago
"I don’t care what justification you use," David Heinemeier Hansson, the co-founder of HEY email-developer Basecamp, writes on Twitter. "Unless you’ve gotten informed, opt-in consent first, it’s an abuse of privacy and needs to stop. No excuses."

How Can You Block Spy Pixels

The most basic way to block spy pixels is to never load any images in your email.
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Luna Park 38 minutes ago
You can switch this feature on in many email apps, including Apple’s Mail app. Attachments sent to...
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Oliver Taylor 41 minutes ago
The problem with this is that you never see any images in your email, even the ones you want to see....
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You can switch this feature on in many email apps, including Apple’s Mail app. Attachments sent to you still will arrive, but remote images never will be loaded.
Evelyn Zhang Member
access_time 24 minutes ago
You can switch this feature on in many email apps, including Apple’s Mail app. Attachments sent to you still will arrive, but remote images never will be loaded.
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Andrew Wilson 17 minutes ago
The problem with this is that you never see any images in your email, even the ones you want to see....
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Ryan Garcia 5 minutes ago
Fastmail, for example, copies any linked images to its servers. It then loads these proxy images whe...
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The problem with this is that you never see any images in your email, even the ones you want to see. And if you click to load those images, the spy pixels will be loaded too. Some email services help out.
Sophie Martin Member
access_time 52 minutes ago
The problem with this is that you never see any images in your email, even the ones you want to see. And if you click to load those images, the spy pixels will be loaded too. Some email services help out.
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Chloe Santos 31 minutes ago
Fastmail, for example, copies any linked images to its servers. It then loads these proxy images whe...
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Daniel Kumar 10 minutes ago
"This means the sender only knows our server information and location, and not yours," writes Nicola...
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Fastmail, for example, copies any linked images to its servers. It then loads these proxy images when you view the mail.
Joseph Kim Member
access_time 70 minutes ago
Fastmail, for example, copies any linked images to its servers. It then loads these proxy images when you view the mail.
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Ethan Thomas 20 minutes ago
"This means the sender only knows our server information and location, and not yours," writes Nicola...
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Andrew Wilson 59 minutes ago
It actively hunts and blocks spy pixels, and if it finds one, it tells you right away. HEY also prox...
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"This means the sender only knows our server information and location, and not yours," writes Nicola Nye, Fastmail’s chief of staff. This only works on the Fastmail site, or in its apps. Heinemeier Hansson’s HEY email service goes one better.
Emma Wilson Admin
access_time 75 minutes ago
"This means the sender only knows our server information and location, and not yours," writes Nicola Nye, Fastmail’s chief of staff. This only works on the Fastmail site, or in its apps. Heinemeier Hansson’s HEY email service goes one better.
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Grace Liu 54 minutes ago
It actively hunts and blocks spy pixels, and if it finds one, it tells you right away. HEY also prox...
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Henry Schmidt 21 minutes ago
You could use the MailTrackerBlocker plugin for Apple’s Mac Mail app. Or you could switch to an ap...
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It actively hunts and blocks spy pixels, and if it finds one, it tells you right away. HEY also proxies all other images, just like Fastmail, keeping your IP address private when you view them. If you don’t use HEY or Fastmail, or you don’t want to switch providers, there are other ways to protect yourself.
Audrey Mueller Member
access_time 64 minutes ago
It actively hunts and blocks spy pixels, and if it finds one, it tells you right away. HEY also proxies all other images, just like Fastmail, keeping your IP address private when you view them. If you don’t use HEY or Fastmail, or you don’t want to switch providers, there are other ways to protect yourself.
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Oliver Taylor 38 minutes ago
You could use the MailTrackerBlocker plugin for Apple’s Mac Mail app. Or you could switch to an ap...
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Harper Kim 23 minutes ago
Big Mail’s unique feature is that it does all the processing on your own device, instead of on a r...
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You could use the MailTrackerBlocker plugin for Apple’s Mac Mail app. Or you could switch to an app that protects you. MailMate is a powerful email client for the Mac, and will warn you with a big banner when pixel trackers are found and blocked.&nbsp; You also could use Caudell’s Big Mail, a privacy-focused email app, which should be launching this month.
Brandon Kumar Member
access_time 34 minutes ago
You could use the MailTrackerBlocker plugin for Apple’s Mac Mail app. Or you could switch to an app that protects you. MailMate is a powerful email client for the Mac, and will warn you with a big banner when pixel trackers are found and blocked.  You also could use Caudell’s Big Mail, a privacy-focused email app, which should be launching this month.
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Big Mail’s unique feature is that it does all the processing on your own device, instead of on a r...
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Big Mail’s unique feature is that it does all the processing on your own device, instead of on a remote server where you have no control.&nbsp; &#34;I suspect as more people learn about this invasion of their privacy, people will begin to expect privacy-shielding functionality from their mail apps,&#34; says Caudell. Was this page helpful?
Evelyn Zhang Member
access_time 90 minutes ago
Big Mail’s unique feature is that it does all the processing on your own device, instead of on a remote server where you have no control.  "I suspect as more people learn about this invasion of their privacy, people will begin to expect privacy-shielding functionality from their mail apps," says Caudell. Was this page helpful?
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