The threat of losing personal data has become an increasing problem worldwide. We currently live in a world where our private information is made vulnerable on a daily basis thanks to cyber criminals, whose primary objective is to steal various forms of personal identifying information (PII), such as social security numbers, account numbers, our identities, and so much more.

With this being said, it has become increasingly important to take preventative measures in regards to how we use our email address on the web. Fortunately, with the right tools, preventing cybercrime can be easy. As a matter of fact, one of these tools is so simple, it’s often overlooked by many people: a secondary email address.
Here are 3 tips on how you can use a secondary email address to protect yourself on the web.

Separate Emails For Separate Accounts

If you want to keep your private information away from the hands of cybercriminals, then it’s best if you don’t showcase your personal data in the first place. Many e-commerce and social media websites require you to sign up for an account in order to start using their services. Most people will use their primary email address when signing up. However, what they fail to realize is that once they register that information into the company’s database, it becomes available to the public. You see, an experienced hacker can run software that will scrape your name and email address. This information can then be used for various malignant purposes, such as selling it to third parties, running spam, doing in-depth research to gather even more information about you, and so much more. By having a separate email account, you remove yourself and your personal information from these sorts of threats.

Avoid Spam

Let’s be honest, there are many click bait headlines on the internet that will usually send you to an irresistible offer. Chances are, you’ve used your primary email address to subscribe to one of these offers at least once. Now, most people will offer ebooks, courses, and things of value. There’s no doubt about that. The only problem is what comes after you sign up. Usually, it’s a wave of spam and promotional emails that clog up your inbox on a frequent basis. You can easily avoid this problem by registering for these promotions with a designated “spam email address”. That way, you can sign up, get the offer, and be free of any further emails.

Disposable Email

The good thing about email addresses is that they’re easy to set up and get rid of. If you are currently engaged in a survey or short-term project, you can create an email for that specific event. Once it’s completed, you can delete your email.  Having a secondary email address also gives you a backup email address in case your primary does get hacked or goes down for some reason.

Final Thoughts

Since your secondary email address is separate from the one you use on a daily basis, you create an extra layer of protection thanks to its obscurity. By having a separate email address, you remove yourself from a series of security threats with basically no effort, skills, or technical knowledge required on your behalf.