Welp I guess this is the perfect example of companies not deleting your credentials and account info when asking for it… I deleted my Notion account several years ago. And completely randomly today got an email from them about data retention, assuming this is one of those “important” emails they have to send out. Sadly, years ago I wasnt using email-aliases like I am today, so still stuck with them having my email. Fuck I hate this so much. Thought I’d just share this lesson, use alises my friends!
Send a GDPR demand to delete your data.
Don’t sweat it pal, i got emails from FedEx for 8 years.
Yeah, I really shouldn’t. It’s just annoying, that’s all.
tell me more about how you use aliases.
you just using a new one for every service?
Back when I used self hosted mail, I wrote an extension that requested a new alias based on the domain of the website.
Like website.net_d5g4j8@mydomain.com
If the site got compromised I would update the random characters.
I still have 800+ aliases left over from this. But after moving to hosted mail I never updated the extension.
Surprisingly little known fact, email addresses actually have the concept of aliases built in (and it’s relatively well supported despite being a bit niche):
your.email+some.alias@gmail.com
Will end up in the inbox of
But will retain the alias in the To field
The downside is that if a sender is particularly shitty it could detect this and remove the alias again.
Note: not every provider supports this.
Also, gmail addresses ignore periods. my.email@gmail.com and myem.ail+service@gmail.com will end up in the same inbox
This is what I use today. However spammers can easily remove the plus address to send email normally so isn’t quite so effective.
What frustrates me is so many websites strip the ‘+’ from the address, either as inline JavaScript or even worse, after submission.
Had the same experience with Lydia advertising their new brand name by email yesterday.
I got an email from century link yesterday asking how my service was, when I had it disconnected 8 years ago, and I got one from apple today about my account, when I deleted it 10 years ago. They don’t care.
yep, they couldnt give two shits, and all the lawsuits in the world are too weak to do anything meaningful.
Always protect yourself first and foremost, never trust anyone unless you have to!
