ProtonMail Introduces Enhanced Email Privacy Features
The developers of ProtonMail believe that “reading emails should be as private as sending them with our end-to-end encryption.” The company has announced the rollout of “enhanced anti-tracking protection,” meaning the service will now block tracking pixels in emails and hide users’ IP addresses.
How Email Trackers Work
According to a 2017 study, nearly half of all sent and received emails contain various trackers that transmit information back to the sender. These trackers can reveal when a recipient opened an email, how many times it was viewed, what device was used, and may even include the recipient’s IP address.
Typically, these trackers are invisible to users, as they are single pixels embedded in the email as images. While they are most often used for targeted advertising, they can also be used to deanonymize individuals, collect information about recipients, or simply track who read a specific email and when.
ProtonMail’s New Protections
ProtonMail now blocks such trackers by default for all accounts, including free ones. The service will block tracking pixels it deems dangerous and will also hide the user’s IP address to prevent third parties from determining their location.
Whenever a tracker is blocked, users will see a notification with an interactive icon. Clicking this icon will provide more information about the detected trackers.
How to Check If the Feature Is Enabled
You can verify if the new functionality is active in your account settings:
- Go to Settings
- Select Email Privacy
- Ensure Block email tracking is enabled