The five myths

  • It makes you anonymous
  • It stops every phishing message
  • It removes the need for strong authentication
  • Every address should be temporary
  • More addresses always mean more confusion

What is actually true

Give each important relationship a labelled, controllable address. That can reduce correlation, improve context and make one exposed relationship easier to replace. It is a control surface, not an invisibility cloak.

Why the distinction matters

A new service asks for an email before explaining how it will use it. The address can tell you which relationship is involved, but it cannot certify the sender or erase information shared elsewhere.

Good tools solve a named problem. Myths ask them to solve every problem.

Use the modest superpower

An alias separates the address, not every other identifier a service collects.

  • Name the relationship
  • Choose a suitable lifetime
  • Store it with the account
  • Review it when the relationship changes

Give the next relationship its own route.

Create an MXDuck alias