Brave’s Browser Hides Your Real Email When You’re Signing Up for Websites

Brave, the browser created by its namesake company, has unveiled a new email protection tool dubbed "email aliases." This feature allows users to generate multiple dummy email addresses without revealing their personal information, which are then forwarded to the user's primary email. Brave's email aliases aim to tackle the privacy hazards of sharing an email address during website sign-ups. These include the risk of data breaches and phishing attacks, and the potential for tracking across the internet.

Ad tech companies such as Google, Meta and LinkedIn have been known to collect email addresses for targeted marketing and data trading. Brave claims its email aliases are designed to address this privacy vulnerability. The service, however, is not turned on by default and requires users to create a free Brave account to start utilizing it.

Users can generate up to five free email aliases, which encrypt all data at rest and do not read the contents of emails sent to them. Brave also states that notes added to these aliases are stored locally on the user's device and not on its servers.

Signing up for a Brave account is necessary to receive forwarded mail, but Brave assures that this practice is safer than having your main email address scattered across the internet. The company further promises end-to-end encryption of notes stored on users' devices, provided they use Brave's online syncing service. Despite the new feature being free, Brave plans to introduce additional email alias features to its Premium plan in the future. However, both Brave and Google have yet to respond to requests for comment.