Anonymous remailers allow people to send emails with anonymous addresses for various reasons. Some use a simple database system, while others use encryption and multiple locations for added security. They can be useful for whistleblowers and those writing about sensitive topics, but can also be used for harmful purposes. Many remailers are easy to use.
An anonymous remailer is a service that allows people to send emails with their anonymous addresses. Different systems can be used to provide these services, with varying degrees of anonymity and success. People may use anonymous remailers for a variety of reasons, ranging from concerns about reporting things like human rights violations with traceable email to wanting to harass people with less chance of getting caught. Numerous services can be found online, some by invitation only to limit activities.
The simplest version of an anonymous remailer contains a database of users with randomly assigned anonymous addresses such as [email protected]. When people want to send email through the service, they send email as they normally would, and the anonymous address appears in the “from” line. The recipient can reply to the email and the remailer will route the reply through the database, matching the username to the real email and passing it on to the original sender. This type of anonymous remailer requires some trust, as the person running the service could advertise the database, exposing users to risk.
Other anonymous remailers use encryption, often layered, to provide added security. Some services bounce an email between multiple locations, stripping the source information in each one. This provides more security and deletes the database with user information; users send encrypted emails, and the server decrypts them to remove sender information and transmit, leaving no trace. The more complex the service, the greater the anonymity, since while someone might be able to hack a server in the daisy chain, the chances of tracing an email from sender to final recipient are very slim.
Anonymous remailer service can be useful for a wide variety of people. Whistleblowers and other people who wish to transmit sensitive information may need to be able to establish contact without revealing their identity for security reasons, and such services can be very useful. Similarly, some people want to remain anonymous to be safe while writing about political topics or other potentially controversial issues and can use such services to interact with people without putting themselves in danger. Uses for anonymous remailers can also be more harmful in nature, although some servers attempt to limit this activity to avoid subpoenas and other law enforcement activity.
While the process behind an anonymous remailer can be complicated, many are set up to be very easy to use, and people can send email anonymously with relative ease by following the directions on a remailer’s website.
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