Recycling of email addresses

[evfrson]

Have Fastmail ever given a reason why they allow email addresses of a closed account to be reused in a new/different account ?
For a company that supposedly cares about privacy this situation is ridiculous.

[BritTim]

I am not aware of any official statement by Fastmail on the matter. However, if it was NOT allowed, it would have inconvenienced me in the past.

Occasionally, there is a wish to transfer email aliases to a different Fastmail account. The only way this can be done is by deleting it from one account and adding it to the other.

I appreciate the security risks. The ideal solution might be to make reuse of email addresses optional at the time you remove them from an account.

[tone]

I've noticed people on email forums tend to advocate the use of custom domains. But aren't custom domains also recyclable? Why is the recycling of custom domains seen as okay, while the recycling of a service provider's email addresses is not? Curious to know the answer.

[janusz]

AFAIK the recycling ban isn't unique to Fastmail. Gmail has the same policy.

[hadaso]

Originally Posted by BritTim

...Occasionally, there is a wish to transfer email aliases to a different Fastmail account. The only way this can be done is by deleting it from one account and adding it to the other....

Asking support to do it might also be an option.

[placebo]

Originally Posted by janusz

AFAIK the recycling ban isn't unique to Fastmail. Gmail has the same policy.

Fastmail doesn't ban the recycling of email addresses—at least it hasn't in the past.

[TenFour]

Do we know for sure that Fastmail allows the reuse of email addresses? As much as I don't like it, telephone numbers are obviously recycled and that seems to potentially be a serious security problem if the wrong person gets your old number somehow, but I'm not sure if there is anyway to request a particular number. I once inherited the number of a local pizza place, which was endlessly annoying as we received orders at all hours of the day and night.

[trikotret]

Originally Posted by tone

I've noticed people on email forums tend to advocate the use of custom domains. But aren't custom domains also recyclable? Why is the recycling of custom domains seen as okay, while the recycling of a service provider's email addresses is not? Curious to know the answer.

They cant recycle your emails when you use custom domain. If you leave fastmail, you take your custom domain with you to another service provider. No can use your domain unless they have access to your domain registrar

[trikotret]

Originally Posted by TenFour

Do we know for sure that Fastmail allows the reuse of email addresses? As much as I don't like it, telephone numbers are obviously recycled and that seems to potentially be a serious security problem if the wrong person gets your old number somehow, but I'm not sure if there is anyway to request a particular number. I once inherited the number of a local pizza place, which was endlessly annoying as we received orders at all hours of the day and night.

https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/a...be%20re%2Dused.

[tone]

p-

Originally Posted by trikotret

They cant recycle your emails when you use custom domain. If you leave fastmail, you take your custom domain with you to another service provider. No can use your domain unless they have access to your domain registrar

Oh I understand that. But if you decide to stop paying for your custom domain (or if you forget to renew), the custom domain isn't retired, rather it becomes available for someone else to buy and use.

[hadaso]

The main advantage of using your own domain rather than a provider's domain is that as long as you renew the domain it's yours, but the provider's domain is out of your control and can be lost if its owner doesn't want to continue to provide mail service to that domain.
I have prepaid all of my domains for at least three years. the domain I use for email is prepaid for almost ten years, and I have a recuring reminder to check renewal status of my domains, so I don't forget.

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by hadaso

The main advantage of using your own domain rather than a provider's domain is that as long as you renew the domain it's yours, but the provider's domain is out of your control and can be lost if its owner doesn't want to continue to provide mail service to that domain.
I have prepaid all of my domains for at least three years. the domain I use for email is prepaid for almost ten years, and I have a recuring reminder to check renewal status of my domains, so I don't forget.

That is the key point. Changes to an email service can easily mean that you have a strong incentive to stop using their service.

With custom domains, at least with the old .com, .net and .org tlds, there is never a need to relinquish control. Even if you no longer use it, the registrar costs are insignificant. You DO need to be careful to avoid getting sucked into the domains where the tld is under monopoly control

[NumberSix]

Originally Posted by BritTim

You DO need to be careful to avoid getting sucked into the domains where the tld is under monopoly control

Wait, what? Are you saying that some TLDs are such that even if I register one and continue paying the renewal fees, that I might not have full control over it? If you mean ones that are country domains, that might be under the thumb of their national governments, well, ok, I sorta get that. But if there are other kinds that have this "danger"... where can I learn more about this?

[hadaso]

.com, .net, .org have pretty stable prices.
.info is a bit more expensive. It was cheaper several years ago.
.family was half the price when I registered it about 5 years ago.

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by NumberSix

Wait, what? Are you saying that some TLDs are such that even if I register one and continue paying the renewal fees, that I might not have full control over it? If you mean ones that are country domains, that might be under the thumb of their national governments, well, ok, I sorta get that. But if there are other kinds that have this "danger"... where can I learn more about this?

When TLDs are under monopoly control, registrar fees are subject to huge increases. You may grab what looks like a fantastic domain name for an initial low cost only to find that the cost to renew rises to hundreds of dollars a year.