It’s Annus Domini 2019 and It Is Time

March 15, 2019 9:53 AM

What is the best (easiest to use, most private, reliable) free web mail today? I would like to open an email account for throwaway purposes, such as newsletter sign-ups and so on. I do not like the fact that Gmail asks for my phone number. Thank you!
posted by Atrahasis to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: Protonmail.ch
posted by el_presidente at 9:54 AM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a bunch of throwaway accounts for all kinds of things, and Gmail does not require a phone number to start an account.
posted by twoplussix at 10:42 AM on March 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Mailinator?
posted by jenkinsEar at 11:25 AM on March 15, 2019

Best answer: Yeah, from what I can tell, Gmail only wants your phone number if you want 2-factor authentication. You're not stopped from signing up without a phone number.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:56 AM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: gmx is reliable and Germany-based.
posted by unearthed at 1:52 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: *Gmail won't let me open a new throw away account without a different phone number than the one I used to open my main account.

You should learn about gmail filters. You can have an account [e-mail] and then also [e-mail] and then sign up to newsletters with guy.2nd@gmail and then set a filter in your gmail to send them all to a folder.
posted by cda at 4:16 PM on March 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I love Protonmail. Security, privacy, and servers in Switzerland. Awesome!
posted by nosila at 6:25 PM on March 16, 2019