Brave browser has introduced a new privacy tool designed to keep your real email address out of the hands of advertisers and data brokers. The security-focused alternative to Google Chrome announced last Thursday that its new email aliases feature lets users generate managed dummy addresses that carry no personal information and forward incoming messages to a primary inbox.
The feature targets a familiar problem: sharing your email during website sign-ups exposes you to several risks. Beyond the danger of your address surfacing in a data breach or attracting repeated phishing attempts, your email can be used to track you across the web. Brave points out that ad tech companies such as Google, Meta and LinkedIn openly promote how businesses can upload email addresses to match customers against existing user profiles. According to Brave, the aliases were built to “plug this privacy hole.”
How Brave’s email aliases work
The email aliases feature is not switched on by default, even for current Brave users. Setup starts by signing up for a free Brave account, which unlocks five free dummy addresses.
To begin, open the Brave login page at brave://settings/email-aliases during a desktop browsing session. Sign up and verify your main email address. From there, right-click on any website’s email field to create and use a new alias on the spot. You can review and manage your aliases from the “autofill & passwords” page inside Brave’s browser settings.
All mail sent to an alias is forwarded to the account you used to register. Brave recommends checking your spam folder regularly so no forwarded messages slip through.
Does Brave have your real email?
Signing up does require your main email address, since Brave needs it to forward your messages. Still, keeping that address in one place is safer than scattering it across dozens of sites where it can be swept up in hacks or sold to data brokers.
Brave has also outlined several safeguards. According to the company’s blog post, all data tied to alias emails is encrypted at rest, meaning it is cryptographically scrambled for the short time it remains on Brave’s servers. “Brave doesn’t read the contents of emails sent to an alias,” the post states. The company says it processes emails only to run standard spam and virus filtering, a requirement for maintaining its status as a reputable email provider. Once a message is delivered, Brave says it is deleted from its servers within seconds.
Brave has long positioned itself as a security-first browser, and the email aliases feature extends that approach directly to your inbox. New users can claim five free aliases after creating and verifying a Brave account.
