I filter emails with the word "unsubscribe" into a separate folder (label in Gmail). If you can unsubscribe from it, it's probably not critical. The vast majority of transactional emails (password resets, magic login links, 2fa codes) don't have that wording in the email body.
This fails under CASL (Canadian Anti Spam Law) where transactional mail is required to provide an unsub mechanism. A lot of senders likely don’t bother personalising those emails based on recipient country.
There must be some nuance to this - e.g. I just double-checked a bank 2FA email from a bank that only has Canadian operations, and it doesn't have an unsub mechanism. I don't know how an unsubscribe mechanism for a 2FA email that you get after entering a correct password would even function.
I do this too, and in my experience, if it's important enough and I've missed it they'll call. Currently undergoing a major (positive) life event that's had more than a few of those cases. The other issue I run into is when somebody forwards me an email. I don't know if gmail filters can whitelist those but that's always led to me missing something important.
Related: GMail has an option to disable loading images by default. Which helps me escape tracker pixels and also know if a "human-like" email still has a tracking pixel or not.
Here's another trick someone should build in: email using emoji in the subject line is probably advertising. Sometimes from lists you like being subscribed on, but if the subject uses U+2757 (big red exclamation mark) then it's more likely "SALE ENDS TOMORROW" and less "Your order shipped!"
EDIT: HN apparently filters out that code point. Good on you.
Alternative: Run your own server so that you can have as many mailboxes/aliases as you want. Give each webiste, company, or even person a different alias. The moment you receive spam, revoke the alias, and optionally name and shame spammers.
Some email providers and postfix also allow the creation of dynamic aliases of the form user+alias@example.com.
A reasonable alternative, if you value deliverability and don't want the actual hassle of maintaining a mail server, choose a mail provider, like mailbox.org, that allows bringing your own domain.
One thing I noticed is that most mailing lists now have a header that identifies them with a specific ID. When I click "Make rule from this email" in Fastmail the primary option is to sort it by that header, not by the sender or receiver. That way only the marketing emails get redirected and not transactional ones from the same sender.
List-Id: A Structured Field and Namespace for the Identification of Mailing Lists
OK, but who uses email anymore for personal communication?
At least for most people in my circle, family is using a social media platform or iMessages. And work is using Teams or Slack or whatever.
Work email is basically useless at this point. I'm completely drowning in various Teams chats created specifically for each "thread" of conversation, with just enough people to make it unique. Or inversely, created with too many people and all conversation is just lost to infinite scroll and walls of text.
I'd pine for a return to email. But no one uses it anymore. Only companies trying to get my attention and a few important forwards for tax receipts. I think email is dead.
Yup, email is usually the preferred communication tool of record. In a previous job, our messages on Teams were wiped after 8 days so anything that needed to be recorded had to be in an email or some form of document.
I filter emails with the word "unsubscribe" into a separate folder (label in Gmail). If you can unsubscribe from it, it's probably not critical. The vast majority of transactional emails (password resets, magic login links, 2fa codes) don't have that wording in the email body.
This fails under CASL (Canadian Anti Spam Law) where transactional mail is required to provide an unsub mechanism. A lot of senders likely don’t bother personalising those emails based on recipient country.
There must be some nuance to this - e.g. I just double-checked a bank 2FA email from a bank that only has Canadian operations, and it doesn't have an unsub mechanism. I don't know how an unsubscribe mechanism for a 2FA email that you get after entering a correct password would even function.
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I do this too, and in my experience, if it's important enough and I've missed it they'll call. Currently undergoing a major (positive) life event that's had more than a few of those cases. The other issue I run into is when somebody forwards me an email. I don't know if gmail filters can whitelist those but that's always led to me missing something important.
Related: GMail has an option to disable loading images by default. Which helps me escape tracker pixels and also know if a "human-like" email still has a tracking pixel or not.
It also helps avoid "oo shiny!" distractions and helps keep the focus on the message.
Mozilla's Thunderbird also has this feature. I'd imagine most security conscious mail reader/browsers do.
So does Apple Mail, for anyone wondering.
Long time ago somebody told that gmail pre fetches all images, so tracker pixels report exactly one open occurrence for images in gmail email.
Fastmail.fm (a paid mail provider) also has a feature to not load remote images, and it’s on by default.
You can also set up arbitrarily complex filtering rules using Sieve, if the built-in rules UI is not sophisticated enough.
To add some more mailbox.org also has it with sieve rules. Posteo should have it too iirc
Here's another trick someone should build in: email using emoji in the subject line is probably advertising. Sometimes from lists you like being subscribed on, but if the subject uses U+2757 (big red exclamation mark) then it's more likely "SALE ENDS TOMORROW" and less "Your order shipped!"
EDIT: HN apparently filters out that code point. Good on you.
Unfortunately, eBay uses emoji in the subject lines for a bunch of their transactional email, e.g. "<U+1F4E6>ORDER DELIVERED".
Which is why they go to spam so often.
> Unfortunately, eBay uses emoji in the subject lines for a bunch of their transactional email, e.g. "<U+1F4E6>ORDER DELIVERED".
Don't really use G-mail (I personally use proton) so I am not sure but can't special exceptions be made for E-bay if that's the case?
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Alternative: Run your own server so that you can have as many mailboxes/aliases as you want. Give each webiste, company, or even person a different alias. The moment you receive spam, revoke the alias, and optionally name and shame spammers.
Some email providers and postfix also allow the creation of dynamic aliases of the form user+alias@example.com.
A reasonable alternative, if you value deliverability and don't want the actual hassle of maintaining a mail server, choose a mail provider, like mailbox.org, that allows bringing your own domain.
I use unique emails for every sender.
One thing I noticed is that most mailing lists now have a header that identifies them with a specific ID. When I click "Make rule from this email" in Fastmail the primary option is to sort it by that header, not by the sender or receiver. That way only the marketing emails get redirected and not transactional ones from the same sender.
List-Id: A Structured Field and Namespace for the Identification of Mailing Lists
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2919.txt
OK, but who uses email anymore for personal communication?
At least for most people in my circle, family is using a social media platform or iMessages. And work is using Teams or Slack or whatever.
Work email is basically useless at this point. I'm completely drowning in various Teams chats created specifically for each "thread" of conversation, with just enough people to make it unique. Or inversely, created with too many people and all conversation is just lost to infinite scroll and walls of text.
I'd pine for a return to email. But no one uses it anymore. Only companies trying to get my attention and a few important forwards for tax receipts. I think email is dead.
We must live in very different universes because most of my business is conducted over email!
Teams messages expire in 30 days at my job, we use email for anything that needs a paper trail
Yup, email is usually the preferred communication tool of record. In a previous job, our messages on Teams were wiped after 8 days so anything that needed to be recorded had to be in an email or some form of document.
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