Hacker News Reader

Comment by midasuni | Hacker News Reader

I rarely want images on my mails. Won’t this method show that I access my mail on an Apple device - this leaking information that might not be leaked otherwise?

View on HN

Leaked to who, though? If you use this feature, then sure, Apple will know that you're using an Apple device.

But the purpose of the proxy is to shield the end-user's IP address, and probably their user agent, too. Some email providers already do this. If you load an image from a Yahoo mailbox, for example, the reported user agent is "YahooMailProxy; https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-proxy-SLN28749.html".

Send a mail to bob@bob.com with an image of eztrack.com/bob123.jpg

If it’s loaded from an Apple ip you know Bob has an Apple device.

I see your point. If you're the kind of user who keeps automatic image download disabled, and rarely downloads them manually, keeping Mail Privacy Protection disabled might actually be more private. Fortunately, it isn't automatic. You'll have to enable it.

But if you do download a tracking pixel, email marketers already know you are using an Apple device. I see the Mail Privacy Protection feature as being primarily for people who want to automatically download images while sending less PII.

Only if you have a foolproof way of knowing Apple IP adresses

If Apple sends AppleMailProxy, they are leaking to newsletters that you use an Apple device.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com