Brave Browser Adds Email Aliases to Protect User Privacy

Brave has introduced a new email alias feature designed to help users protect their personal email addresses when signing up for websites and online services.

The new feature allows Brave users to create alternative email addresses to use instead of their primary inbox. Messages sent to these aliases are forwarded to the user’s real email account without exposing the original address to websites.

To use the feature, users must first create a Brave account and provide their actual email address. When they encounter an email field on a website while browsing, Brave can offer an option to insert an alias instead. Users can also access the option manually through the browser menu if the prompt does not appear.

Brave says email addresses are often used as online identifiers that allow companies to connect user activity across websites, including for advertising and tracking purposes. By using aliases, users can reduce the amount of personal information shared with third-party services.

The company also says email aliases can limit the impact of data breaches. If a website storing an alias is compromised, attackers would not immediately obtain the user’s primary email address.

Brave says it does not read the contents of emails sent to aliases and only processes messages for spam and malware filtering. After forwarding emails to users, the company deletes them from its servers. Brave also says account data is encrypted at rest, while notes attached to aliases are stored locally unless users enable encrypted syncing.

The feature is currently available to Brave users with five free email aliases. The company plans to offer additional aliases through its Premium subscription in the future.

Brave noted that some forwarded messages may initially be sent to spam folders while email providers build trust with the new forwarding service.