I have too many email addresses and one of which is web relic from years gone by and is about to bite the dust (my aim account). Also still have BT internet account for UK and Orange for here. Between them I think 11 or 12 email accounts.
And we are about to move and new house is not served by Orange for fibre, so may have to change providers.
So seems the moment to try break free and become independent of having an account with an internet provider. Which fills me with horror as am an internet hoarder without an online password saver. So resetting the zillion accounts with companies and so on could take a very long time. Let alone clearing old emails
How do I set up an email account that is independent of my @orange.fr or @btinternet.com. And no worse ethically than Apollo global management who own aim.com and are full of Trumpists?
Easiest way, assuming you do not want to acquire your own domain name, is to sign up with one of the generic email providers such as Apple or Gmail.
I am gradually moving all my online accounts with various suppliers such as Amazon, Adobe etc. to use my Apple Mail email address, in anticipation of phasing out my “Chris Mann Photography” domains and email addresses when I retire.
Once you have this email (e.g. JaneJones99 (at) Gmail dot com) you just add it as a new email address in your email software on your computer and any other devices.
Set it up using the “IMAP” protocol not “POP3” (the email provider will give instructions or possibly a small script to do this) so that emails are synced across all your devices i.e. if you reply to an incoming email on your phone your reply will also appear on your computer.
You can also access GMail or Apple Mail via their websites but I find it more convenient to continue to use the Apple Mail app as I have always done. Microsoft Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird or any other computer mail client would also work.
Then you can give the new email out to anyone you please for future correspondence.
As for managing passwords, I do use a password manager (1Password) but as a backup I have a misleadingly-named folder on my computer where I also note down all the logins and passwords in text files, as a backup!
We use gmail for everything. However, I noticed that Sergey Brin attented Trump’s inauguration, though he doesn’t seem to invoke the same hatred as Zuckerberg, Musk, or Bezos.
You might take a look at Proton mail. It may be safer and it is also free.
Transfer the contact email address for any organisation or corporation that uses your current Orange email address or any application that uses your Orange email address for 2FA/Recovery Key purposes BEFORE you terminate your contract with Orange.
Go with Apple of Gmail as posted previously if you want a free email account as those domains will only be killed in our lifetimes by WW3 or alien invasion.
My oldest friend who is the web mistress of a large media organisation and a conspiracy theorist, uses Proton for all her personal email because of its end to end encryption. However, I understand there’s also a few potential disadvantages. See:-
I’ve been using ProtonMail for a few years now (as well as Apple and Gmail).
All three work very well, and I’d certainly recommend Proton. It also has an integrated password manager and VPN, to which I’m going to migrate when my Nord account reaches renewal date.
I pay for the slightly upgraded version of ProtonMail, but the free version is great.
you can also go into the settings for all of you le other accounts and have them forward to your new email address.
About 25 years ago I bought our own domain and have had email addresses for all of our family on those ever since so completely independent of isp - looking back it was worth doing even if a little techy.
@JaneJones. Like @Mat_Davies we went for our own domain names in a hosting environment so that we have complete control of them and can move them from host to host (to some extent). We’ve never used the addresses that came with with the relevant ISP nor used Gmail apart from an address to use for various shopping environments. I rarely look at those and they can die without any problem.
We are currently using hosting.fr (actually German-run) at, I think, 25 euros a year and the domain name is free in the first year. They all have different setups but I’m very happy with our arrangement. However, we do have several domains for different purposes but that’s just because it’s us. Most people aren’t ever going to need more than one as you can create lots of email addresses from one domain.
I bought a domain a long time ago, and also run a Gmail account for potentially spammy contacts. Gmail is awkward, inconvenient, frustrating compared to some stand alone email clients.
If you don’t want to use a GAFA company, then you might look at Tuta, or Proton, which tout themselves as privacy oriented, and are prepared to up sticks to a different jurisdiction to maintain their independence from what they consider to be overbearing state oversight.
Here’s my problem: my partner’s email address no longer works for some reason whrn I try to re instate it gmail says phone no. already in use and will not let put her address in what- can I do
We use Proton for our VPN because of their data collection and protection policies. Also they were and maybe still are the preferred VPN of dissident Russian. My thinking is that if Proton can defend against Putin’s cyber attacks they are good enough for me.
For email we still use our legacy Yahoo accounts with a .net suffix!
Remember kids, everyone is collecting your data to sell it.
Apart from HMG, who collects it to sell, but leaves it on a bus, train, in a pub or a server such lax security that even the Tea App developers wouldn’t allow.
