If your Gmail inbox is tired of drowning out a daily barrage of spam emails from companies you’ve never heard of before, there is a very simple way to find out how these companies target your account. A simple trick was posted online, via the team at Tool Hacks, Which allows Gmail users to know exactly who has shared their address with others.
The next time you go online to buy something or sign up for a service and have to enter your email address, there is a simple way to find out what happens next to your personal data.
All you have to do is write the first part of your Gmail address in the email field but then add the + sign and give it a unique name. Once that’s done, you have to wrap things up with the usual @ gmail.com.
For example, if you are registering with a Facebook account, the social network will give the address [email protected].
It might sound like a strange idea, but the reason it works is because Gmail ignores all the characters between the + and @ signs, which means you can add any additional details between these characters.
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If a company delivers these details to anyone else, they’ll know exactly what was happening because of this unique identifier you added.
As Gadget Hacks explains, companies can make money by selling email addresses to marketing companies and because your email address always looks the same, you have no idea who has stolen the data about your data.
If you are receiving unwanted messages, you can try to unsubscribe as all marketing messages should offer this option.
If that doesn’t work, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can sometimes help.
On their website, the ICO states: “If you receive an unwanted email, please let us know.
“We will use the information you have provided to identify, investigate and take action against organizations that do not follow the rules regarding direct marketing.”
So, the next time you are asked to click on your Gmail address to sign up for a service, give this a try as it might reveal some interesting insights about what happens to your data.
News of the hack comes as Google announced that it was offering Gmail users a very nice boost that could not have come at a better time. The US tech company just announced an extension of its unlimited free video calling via Google Meet until June 30. This means that all Gmail fans can now continue chatting online with friends and family without fear of being cut in the middle of a sentence.