SPAM. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... but look at the word "SPAM" and that word brings up a thousand pictures.
We're not talking about the food SPAM. We're talking about email SPAM. SPAM isn't an acronym, it is a name for UCE which is an acronym for unsolicited commercial email. So when people are talking about SPAM as it relates to email, they are talking about unsolicited commercial email.
Can you remember the first email SPAM you received? You might have thought, is this a real message to me? Or, how did this person/company find out my email address? It can feel invasive. Your personal email inbox is yours, and to have random, vulgar or obscene emails sent to you can be down right intrusive.
Your email address is for you and those you wish to share it with. Contrary to conventional wisdom of today's society, you do not have to give your email address just because someone requests it from you. As I'm sure you have experienced, it just takes giving your email address to one wrong bad apple company and then, bam! you have hundreds of unwanted emails arriving at your inbox.
Anti-spam describes a collection of techniques that prevent unsolicited commercial email. One of those techniques is using a disposable email address (DEA). Disposable email addresses let you have all the functionality of a regular email address, but you can just dispose of it after you're done using it. Think of it like your suitcase (real email address) vs a plastic bag (disposable email address). You can store stuff in a suitcase just like you can store stuff in a plastic bag. You'll most likely keep your suitcase for a long time and you'll probably toss a plastic bag away as soon as you are done with it.
You'll keep your real email address most of your life, as things like bank accounts and other personal items are connected with it. A disposable email address is made for you to use and delete, use and delete, use and delete. You can make as many disposable email addresses as you like and forget about them whenever you like.
Disposable emails as an antispam technique work as follows. Create a disposable email address at EmailOnDeck.com and then use it with whoever you don't quite want having your real email address. Your disposable email address is anonymous and private, so whoever you give it to will not know you, or your real email address based on it.
For shady companies and vendors that start sending SPAM to your disposable email address inbox, you don't need to care at all. Just stop using it, close the browser window and you'll never see another unwanted commercial email. When you want a new disposable email, just go to EmailOnDeck.com and get a new free disposable email address!
Keep your real email inbox free of SPAM using the anti-spam technique of disposable email addresses.
Stay safe out there.