Google’s ‘Shield Email’ Could Offer Temporary Email Addresses

Google’s ‘Shield Email’: Using a temporary email address is an excellent way to avoid spam and keep your inbox safe. You can find many services that offer disposable emails free, but until now no big tech company has implemented a version of it and that could soon change. Recently, the Gmail app for Android has had some code spotted by Android Authority that seems to be alluding to a tool called “Shield Email” in the works at Google.

Google May Launch ‘Shield Email’ Feature for Temporary Addresses in Gmail

Google would provide users with an email address they can distribute to anyone that isn’t their one main email. Emails directed to this temporary address will be forwarded to the user’s primary inbox. They can deactivate it easily if spam comes through or when the user does not want to use the address any more. This would prevent a user from having to deal with emails they do not want to receive while also bypassing spam filters.

The benefit of a temp mail is pretty obvious: it protects your primary inbox from spam, as well as data breaches. This comes in handy when subscribing to newsletters, apps, or services that might be selling your email address to advertisers.

Most of these current temporary email services only accept incoming emails, they block outgoing messages entirely to prevent the service from being abused for spam or phishing. Expect similar limitations with Google’s “Shield Email”, if we are to keep a cap on criminal activity and preserve security.

An image used to demonstrate Autofill with Google indicates that multiple Shielded Emails may be able to be managed at once. This would let users create different temporary addresses for various purposes, like online shopping or signing up for social media accounts, adding more flexibility to the feature.

However, it’s important to note that Google has not officially confirmed “Shield Email” yet. So far, it has only been found in hidden references within the Gmail app, suggesting that the feature may still be in testing. Google could modify or even cancel it before launch. If Google does roll out “Shield Email,” it would offer a simple way for users to protect their privacy online.

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