New privacy feature in Hotmail allows use of multiple e-mail aliases

The Windows Live has released a new feature in Hotmail that can help enhance privacy for some Hotmail users. Dharmesh Mehta, Director, Windows Live Product Management, describes the new feature on the Windows Live Blog:

There are times when you simply don’t want to give out any part of your real email address – that’s where our new alias feature helps you out. Email aliases let you create completely different email addresses that you can use to receive email into your primary account without anyone knowing what your primary email address is.

Let’s say you’re in the market for a new car. There are a bunch of websites that will email you price quotes, sales alerts, etc. During your car search, these messages are helpful, but once you’re done, they become clutter that can be difficult to stop. By using an alias on these websites instead of your main email address, you can avoid this. And when you’re done, just turn the alias off, ensuring future unwanted messages that are sent to that alias don’t land in your inbox.

You might also be concerned that your address could be sold to other companies or could result in a large amount of new email that you don’t want or doesn’t belong in the same place as your regular email. Or maybe you want an address that’s better suited to your hard-core gaming persona rather than your normal, professional one. Starting today, you can add up to five aliases per year to your Hotmail account, up to fifteen aliases in total, all designed to make it a lot easier to organize different types of email and personas in one Hotmail inbox without having to give out your primary email address if you don’t want to.

With the option to use Hotmail with any email address and the ability to easily add aliases, we look forward to hearing how you’re better managing and securing your online identity.

Dharmesh Mehta
Director, Windows Live Product Management