Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Apple is changing its Hide My Email feature domain from @icloud.com to @private.icloud.com this summer, affecting new addresses created after the transition.
- Macworld reports that some services may reject the new @private.icloud.com addresses, potentially reducing the feature’s effectiveness for spam protection.
- Existing Hide My Email addresses will retain their @icloud.com domain and continue working normally for current users.
One of the great features of Apple’s iCloud+ online storage service is Hide My Email, a feature that allows users to create and use an anonymous email address when signing up for something online. It currently creates an email address using @icloud.com; since the email domain is the same as the one for your actual iCloud email address, a site can’t block you for using a “fake” address.
But Apple announced some news to developers about Hide My Email, and it’s not the best. Apple said that “later this summer,” it is changing Hide My Email so that the email address created uses @private.icloud.com instead. That’s a distinct difference from @icloud.com and could allow services to filter the two domains and reject @private.icloud.com from being accepted when an email address is demanded. That could be bad news for users who depend on the service and want to keep their personal email free from spam.
On the bright side, existing Hide My Email addresses that you’ve already created will continue to work and will remain @icloud.com addresses. But at some point this summer, any new addresses you create will have the new domain, so be prepared for the possibility that Hide My Email address will be rejected.
Apple did not offer an explanation for the change in its news release. Our friends at TechCrunch contacted Apple for a comment, but did not receive a response either.
If, after this new policy goes into effect, you find that Hide My Email isn’t effective anymore, you could do what I used to do (and will probably go back to doing) and create an account at a free online email service for the specific purpose of non-critical logins. It’s not as convenient as Hide My Email–you need to log into the email account to confirm and complete any registration. But it’s better than exposing your actual email address to a service that will likely use it for marketing purposes.
