Apple Considers Changes to Hide My Email Feature That May Reduce Privacy Protection

Apple is preparing to update its Hide My Email privacy feature in a way that could make it easier for websites and apps to identify — and potentially block — users who register with anonymous email addresses.

Hide My Email is available as part of the iCloud+ subscription service and allows users to create randomly generated email addresses that forward messages to their real inbox. These anonymous addresses have traditionally blended in with standard Apple email accounts because both use the @icloud.com domain, making them difficult for websites to distinguish between them.

However, Apple informed developers on Monday that it plans to move newly generated Hide My Email addresses to the @private.icloud.com domain in the coming weeks. The change means apps and online services will be able to recognise when an email address has been created through Apple’s privacy feature, making it easier for them to reject or restrict anonymous account registrations if they choose.

Apple said existing Hide My Email addresses will continue working without interruption and will keep forwarding emails to users as before. The company also advised developers and email providers to update their mail filtering systems to ensure messages sent to the new @private.icloud.com addresses continue to be delivered successfully.

The planned change has drawn criticism from some Apple users on Reddit, who argued that separating anonymous email addresses into a distinct domain could reduce the usefulness of the privacy feature and make anonymous sign-ups more difficult.

The feature has already attracted attention this year after Apple provided the real account information associated with a Hide My Email address used to send an allegedly threatening message to the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel.

The latest update also comes as the Trump administration continues efforts to identify anonymous online users. Over the past year, authorities have increasingly relied on subpoenas requiring technology companies to disclose account information linked to anonymous users, including individuals critical of the administration.