NBox

Security and privacy

disposable email addresses

SHOW HN2017

Legend

NBox

Sign up anywhere without giving your email address

nbox.notif.me

#anonymous email#email alias#spam filter#private email

286points
204comments
#78of 2,242 in 2017
Top 4%of 2017 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

11 positive, 20 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 28 critical, out of 61 comments about the project. Thread score -0.25.

Idea: 8 for, 12 againstExecution: 1 for, 5 againstDesign: 1 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 3 againstDocs: 0 for, 3 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Useful concept for heavy internet users.

    From 1 comment
  • Similar to 1Password for email addresses; would be useful.

    From 1 comment
    • This seems like it's almost "1Password for Email Addresses," which would be pretty great: go to site, hit key combination, have random/saved email inserted into login boxes.…
      mccolin on HN

Objections

  • Spammers can remove the plus-suffix or guess addresses, so the approach is weak against spam.

    From 2 comments
    • Hi kchr, no you're not the only one to use the plus sign. As already discussed in this feed, the + part can easily be removed by spammers.
      bdav24 on HN
    • Hi toddmorey, yes a well-known trick ;) The downside is that the + part can be easily removed by spammers.
      bdav24 on HN
  • Shutdown or lost service could lock users out of account recovery.

    From 2 comments
    • So what's it like when NBox goes under and you can't recover your password on any of your sites?
      midnitewarrior on HN
    • If the service is down or I want to stop using it I'm totally screwed, though. Usually if I forget the password to a service they can send me a reset link, what would my options…
      nkkollaw on HN
  • Browser extension only; no mobile or login support yet.

    From 2 comments
    • I am trying to understand this. Appears to offer bulk accounts that are easy to create and permanent, targeting the market that sits between a) regular email addresses, which are…
      iliketosleep on HN
    • I tried to "Create my nbox" (or "Generate an address") and it sent me to Chrome addons site. Is it Chrome-only web service?
      monista on HN
  • Domain may get blacklisted by services.

    From 2 comments
    • Most of these new email services overlook a few very important details which guarantee that they will probably not be around in a year: 1. You need to have multiple domains. If…
      hota_mazi on HN
    • Presumably if I don't want to receive spam emails I'm also unlikely to allow a website to send me notifications. I'm unlikely as well to install an extension for a very specific…
      ajnin on HN

Requests

  • Firefox and mobile support.

    From 2 comments
    • I tried to "Create my nbox" (or "Generate an address") and it sent me to Chrome addons site. Is it Chrome-only web service?
      monista on HN
    • This seems like it's almost "1Password for Email Addresses," which would be pretty great: go to site, hit key combination, have random/saved email inserted into login boxes.…
      mccolin on HN
  • Self-hosting option.

    From 1 comment
    • 1. Great idea. It's been done by Blur from Abine.com which I've been using for years. 2. Possibly offer the ability to self host this?
      ikeboy on HN

Questions

  • How does login work and how is the account recovered?

    From 2 comments
    • I think this is a good idea, but pretty poorly executed again. Another user commented that you could just register your own domain and do this; that's great for the average…
      bigtunacan on HN
    • So a lot of systems these days use email password recovery, is this not just adding another attack vector ?. > bdav24: Hi water42, don't ever trust anyone with your data,…
      markwakeford on HN
  • How is this different from mailhero, 33mail, spamgourmet or Blur?

    From 3 comments
    • How is this different from, let's say mailhero.io?
      sashk on HN
    • The FAQ says that it's not a disposeable-e-mail-generator, but the description of what it does makes it seem like that's exactly what it is. (Maybe it means that it doesn't…
      JadeNB on HN
    • 1. Great idea. It's been done by Blur from Abine.com which I've been using for years. 2. Possibly offer the ability to self host this?
      ikeboy on HN

Alternatives named

  • Catch-all domain email forwarding.

    From 2 comments
    • As an alternative, you could register a domain with a catch-all email address and simply register for new services on the fly using a unique string for each site. Have the…
      _Marak_ on HN
    • I've had a catch-all for *@mydomain.com forward to my primary email address for 10+ years. In that time I signed up for services and websites with [domain]@mydomain.com thinking…
      talove on HN
  • 33mail.

    From 1 comment
    • I've been using 33mail.com for years for this. I just give it an address like "hackernews@username.33mail.com" and it forwards email. If hackernews ever starts spamming, 33mail…
      StavrosK on HN
  • mailhero.io.

    From 1 comment
    • How is this different from, let's say mailhero.io?
      sashk on HN
  • Spamgourmet.

    From 1 comment
    • The FAQ says that it's not a disposeable-e-mail-generator, but the description of what it does makes it seem like that's exactly what it is. (Maybe it means that it doesn't…
      JadeNB on HN
  • Blur from Abine.

    From 1 comment
    • 1. Great idea. It's been done by Blur from Abine.com which I've been using for years. 2. Possibly offer the ability to self host this?
      ikeboy on HN
  • Mailinator.

    From 1 comment
    • So how is this different from something like Mailinator.com? In my opinion, I can't see a use case in which I'd care enough to have my temporary email private. If I cared enough…
      jswny on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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