ProtonMail has presented an enhanced email tracking security system for its web-based email solution that contains senders from being tracked by recipients who open their messages. ProtonMail is an end-to-end encrypted email service based in Switzerland and utilizes a client-side encryption procedure to preserve user privacy and protect their transmissions from spying on negotiators.

How 40% of all Emails have Trackers?

As per the 2017 study, nearly half of all the emails sent and get back the features trackers that illuminate data back to the sender. The data consist of the time a receiver opened an email, how many times it was revisited, what device was reached, and the receiver’s IP address.

These trackers are basically hidden since they are just tiny pixels in an image implanted on the email body, and they log information about the user activity every time the message is opened. Email trackers are primarily used for targeted promotion but can also be used for de-anonymization, to expose the recipient’s details to third parties, or simply to monitor when someone has read your email.

The collection of this data occurs without the user’s consent, but these systems are hard to regulate, so the best approach is to block them.

How to Block trackers for all users?

ProtonMail will now start blocking email trackers by default on all accounts, including free (non-paying) users. The webmail service will block the identified as risky pixels and hide the user’s IP address so that their location remains concealed.  

Whenever a tracker is blocked, the user will get a relevant notification with a clickable icon that holds more information on the detected trackers. As the company explains, this new system won’t affect subscribing to newsletters or registering for online services. ProtonMail users can check if this privacy feature is enabled by going to Settings > Email Privacy and confirming if the Block email tracking setting is toggled on, as shown below.

What are the other ways to protect yourself?

If you’re not using ProtonMail, but you still want to protect yourself from email trackers, try disabling image/resource loading on your email client. This option is available on Thunderbird, Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail, and should be enough to block most trackers from loading.

You can also turn off HTML email entirely and read your messages in plain text form for additional security. However, this measure is not recommended for a satisfactory user experience but could help in cases where privacy security is crucial.