It appears Google is developing a feature called ‘Shielded Email’ that allows users to create temporary email aliases to protect their primary email address from spam and unwanted tracking.
In the simplest of terms, Shielded Email helps you make a pretend email address so strangers can’t find or bother your real one. This keeps your real email safe from too many messages or people trying to follow what you do.
How it works
The Shielded Email system will forward messages from generated email addresses (the pretend email) to the user’s main account, enabling users to control spam by turning off forwarding at any time.
Privacy
This feature aims to enhance user privacy by reducing the risk of data breaches and online tracking, making it safer to share email addresses with less trustworthy apps.
Currently I have a second Gmail account that I use to sign up on websites that won’t let me proceed without signing up even when I know I won’t be returning. Worse still when the site looks sketchy.
Still in the works
Unfortunately, there is a chance we never see the feature come to fruition. It is still a work in progress and there is no guarantee Google will ship it.
As of November 15, 2024, the Shielded Email feature has been spotted in the Autofill settings but currently leads to an empty page, indicating it is still under development.
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