This major Gmail update could change the way you use your email
A recent update to Gmail's privacy and security features is about to transform how users manage their email.
We all know the feeling – you connect to a public Wi-Fi network, subscribe to an email newsletter, or complete an online form, and you’re asked to provide your email address. Before you know it, your inbox is flooded with irritating (and sometimes even harmful) spam emails.
To address this issue, Google seems to be taking a page from Apple's playbook by providing users the ability to create random ghost email addresses that redirect to their main account. With this feature, users can avoid typing in their real email address on forms, which helps prevent spam from filling up their inboxes.
The update is similar to a function offered by Apple known as Hide My Email. This feature allows users to protect their email addresses from data dealers, who collect and sell personal contact information like email addresses and phone numbers. This often results in unwanted spam messages and phone calls.
Apple users have the option to send messages straight from their ghost email addresses while using the Safari and Mail applications. They can also generate a new ghost email address any time they need to complete an online form.
Gmail users might have to be patient before they can access this feature on Google Chrome. Google has mentioned that they can see how this could be quite beneficial for Chrome.
Right now, this feature can be found in the latest update of Google Play Services, meaning it’s only accessible to Android phone users. Google hasn't shared any information about whether this feature will be added to the desktop version of Gmail.
According to Forbes, there are two key benefits to this update: first, users will be able to immediately identify the sources of scam and spam emails, making it easy for them to delete these unwanted messages. Second, it stops these emails, along with their senders, from gaining access to your personal email account.
Email and phone scams are on the rise and are growing more sophisticated, so it's believed that users will appreciate these new updates. Recent research from Citizens Advice published last month indicates that approximately 9 million individuals in the UK fell victim to financial scams in the past year, which translates to about one in five people.
