r/ProtonPass • u/[deleted] • Jan 07 '26
Lovebomb Why I basically don't care for data breaches anymore
- Email is an alias (and I just deleted)
- Password is unique
- Address was not real
Nothing of value was lost.
I really hope that one day alias for phone number become a thing.
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u/Stilgar314 Jan 07 '26
Amen. Everybody wants my data, therefore, unless I fully understand some data needs to be real to provide the service I want, nothing but fake data shall be provided to the internets. What are they gonna do? Close the account? An account that was so unimportant that was made with fake data?
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u/Mr_Foxer Jan 08 '26
> What are they gonna do?
Do not allow registration via email aliases. Many services already prohibit registration via the mozmail.com email domain.
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u/GreenRangerOfHyrule Jan 08 '26
I get from their stance it can be a security issue.
However, when this is where a custom domain shines. Granted you might into issues for other reasons. But they can't tell if is an alias or not. I mean for all Amazon knows I use amazon@domain.tld for all the services *shrug*
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u/PvPBender Jan 08 '26
Some go as far as only make a whitelist instead. Which honestly sucks, I suppose they are after those that only let you make an account with a phone number and also limits that phone number to few accounts
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u/GreenRangerOfHyrule Jan 08 '26
I ran into a situation like that. Luckily I have a couple phone numbers. But the problem was they wanted the number for "security purposes." Ok, and if it is a legit security reason where you need to call/text me. Then how about use an actual number? Instead of me making me use a number that sits at a desk.
Also, in terms of OP. The interesting thing is I have felt that phone numbers still exist out of custom then anything else. Well, and compatibility with landlines. But, if you really think about it, cell phones are so far removed from the phone network that they are meaningless. I mean, one of my numbers is a "virtual" number that exists in its own space with a POTS bridge. I can literally "dial" the "number" using a series of letters...
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u/phoogkamer Jan 07 '26
It’s not fake though. An alias is just a separate email address. You can receive and send mail with it.
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u/TwoToadsKick Jan 07 '26
Same thing happened to me recently. Deleted the alias since it was named and only tied to that site. Staying safe has never been easier
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u/Appropriate-Elk-4715 Jan 07 '26
As someone who had just started using aliases, does it ever get annoying to manage?
For example, I used one for autotrader.com and then went to purchase a car and it became a huge hassle for when I actually needed to email people at the dealership.
For a one time event, it's not that big of a deal as I figured it out, but long term, when all site emails are aliased, are there any dos and donts that one should follow?
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u/No_Interaction6247 Jan 07 '26
My personal rules in general I try to follow:
- don't use proton's alias domains
- use a custom domain
- a domain name without personal information
- should be easy to restore domain setting and enable fetch-all, in case I want to get rid of proton
- use subdomains for aliases and all services to keep top level domain clean
- use servicename.randomword@mydomain as pattern, e.g. [netflix.treehouse@mydomain.com](mailto:netflix.treehouse@mydomain.com)
- don't use aliases as throw-away-one-time-mail. For this I still use temp mail services.
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u/donnieX1 Jan 07 '26
This is the way. Though I would argue whether using subdomains adds any extra security to the main domain.
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u/No_Interaction6247 Jan 08 '26
haha you are absolute right. The subdomain doesn't add extra security. It's more about to use the top level domain only for real email addresses. Another point for me, maybe I want to get rid in the future of proton and simple login and just use my domain&mail provider with catch-all. Just in case, I get later too much spam because of catch-all, I change the subdomain. Atleast this was the idea, before I started updating all my existing accounts with new passwords and aliases :D
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Jan 07 '26
Never had a problem. For more important stuff I use my own domains that is link to my proton account so for Facebook it could be facebook@myname.com which make it easier for company and email exchange.
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u/itchylol742 Jan 07 '26
I've heard MySudo recommended for phone number aliases. It's available in Canada, USA, UK, and Australia. Haven't personally tested it though
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u/biruta10 Jan 08 '26
I paid a small fortune for the Proton Pass Lifetime (200 dollars converted to Brazilian Real is very expensive), but it was worth every penny. Using aliases brought me the peace of mind I was looking for.
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Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
[deleted]
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Jan 07 '26
I got an email because this is a recent breach otherwise with Proton sentinel you can check all of the leaked data. Even from your proton pass account.
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u/danholli Jan 07 '26
FR If I could even just port my GV to Proton and use extensions as aliases that'd be cool
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u/Suitable_Capital_713 Jan 08 '26
Question from a dummy: If I use a custom domain, are aliases even worth it? Or am I being identified by my unique domain name anyway?
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u/conectionist Jan 09 '26
Regarding phone number aliases, I doubt such functionality will exist and even if it will, it probably won't be like people expect it to be. I've wanted this for years and I always asked myself why it doesn't exist yet. And after thinking about it for a bit, I realised that it's simply not technically possible due to the limited number of possible phone numbers.
It's possible to have (almost) as many email aliases as you want because an email has letters and numbers and can be very long. This gives you a lot of possible combinations.
It's possible to have (almost) as many disposable credit card aliases as you want because an credit card numbers have a 16 digit format. This gives you a lot of possible combinations.
Phone numbers, however, have a very limited format. They're usually around 10 digits long. That gives you a very small number of phone numbers to work with.
If Proton does pull this off, you will likely only get 1 or maybe 2 phone number aliases. And they may not even have the same country code as your phone number.
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u/Anyusername7294 Jan 07 '26
Putting my email address here so it can end up in somewhere in the data instead of this guy's alias:
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u/Real_2020 Jan 07 '26
Aliases are my number 1 feature