More than 160 billion emails sent every day contain invisible trackers that monitor the recipient’s online activities.
This is the latest worrying data collected by one of the best VPN providers, Proton VPN. This means that about five out of every ten emails you receive could be spying on you.
Fortunately, everyone using an iPhone or iPad can now avoid email tracking by default after the latest update to the secure email service Proton Mail iOS app.
Not only can Proton Mail prevent those intrusive graphics from being loaded onto the device, but it also hides the user’s IP location and data around the time the email was opened.
Email tracking is a form of online surveillance commonly used by marketers. It relies heavily on these invisible images to build profiles on recipients without their consent. What’s worse, these web crawlers can even manage to collect sensitive data even when using an encrypted email service.
As mobile security is increasingly important today, the Swiss-based service provider has decided to extend tracking protection from its desktop app to iOS. A new version of the Android application that includes this feature is currently being prepared.
Email tracking protection is now also available on the Proton Mail iOS app! Learn more here: https://t.co/rG7WabO5GK https://t.co/I7tWtpCMBw pic.twitter.com/IRmI0g0wlLDecember 19, 2022
A more secure email experience without tracking
Regarding email tracking, Proton founder and CEO Andy Yen said: “This type of surveillance is unacceptable, especially on the scale it’s currently happening, and users are largely unaware it’s happening.”
“It’s essentially like an eye hovering over your shoulder, recording every time you open and read an email, recording the device you’re using, your internet service provider and even your location.”
Proton’s tracking protection uploads the image remotely to one of its servers to protect user privacy. The images are then cached on these servers, allowing you to reopen the email privately as you won’t have to reload the tracking graphic.
Since the service provider automatically opens the email as soon as it is received through its secure network, marketers will also be prevented from tracking other sensitive data such as users’ real IP addresses, email timestamps, operating system, device type or browser being used. benefits.
Proton assures that it cannot read the user’s e-mail in any way because it is protected by strict end-to-end encryption and no access.
“At Proton, our mission has always been to build a better internet where privacy is standard,” said Yen.
“So in addition to providing end-to-end encryption for email, we’re also introducing our unique protection capability for email tracking.”
Proton’s tracking protection is also easy to use.
For starters, it automatically runs in the background, so there’s no need to fiddle with settings. All you need to do is make sure your Proton Mail app is up to date.
Each time you open an email containing one of these web trackers, you will receive a notification. You can then simply tap the shield icon that appears in the top right corner of the infected email to see what’s been blocked.
First launched in its web apps last January, now is the first time users can enjoy the feature on iPhone and iPad.
Some improvements have also just been introduced. For example, you can now customize how to view these remote images for each app.
Proton has seen a 46% increase in the number of blocked trackers since the improved version of its tracking protection was first introduced.
Soon, those using Android devices will also be able to benefit from a more secure email experience without tracking.
