Disposable addresses
From ASRG
Anti-spam technique: Disposable addresses | |
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Date of first use: | 1990s |
Effectiveness: | High |
Popularity: | Medium |
Difficulty of implementation: | Medium |
Where implemented: | MTA |
Harm: | Medium |
A disposable e-mail address is an address that can be disabled when spam arrives. Typically, a user has many disposable addresses, and distributes a different one to each correspondent. This makes a point-to-point communication channel with each contact. If one of the contacts exploits the e-mail address s(he) was given for sending SPAM, that address is disabled, i.e. disposed of, by its creator. Other contacts are not affected by the cancellation of one address. They can still send e-mail to the user, using the different disposable e-mail addresses they previously received.