要求已读回执的日子已经过去很久了。如果您已经上网(Internet)很长时间，您可能还记得电子邮件弹出窗口要求您同意通知发件人您已打开电子邮件。这些在今天(capacity today)仍然以某种方式存在，但其他更偷偷摸摸的跟踪方法已经接管了。
许多人在拿到新手机并开始发短信时做的第一件事就是关闭已读回执。没有人喜欢让别人相信他们忽略了他们，并且“R”已经走到了结束关系的地步。大多数人希望他们的信息在阅读后立即得到回复。
您可能从未意识到这一点，但电子邮件中也存在同样的效果——只是普通用户更难“关闭它”。
在本文中，让我们讨论一下当您打开他们的电子邮件时人们一直在跟踪的侵入性方式，以及如何保护自己免受这种侵害。
什么是电子邮件跟踪像素？
您的普通电子邮件阅读器(reader isn)不知道(t aware)隐形图像实际上有多么强大。仅仅通过加载一个单像素、1×1 的图像，你就泄露了很多关于你机器的信息。
当您加载此图像时，托管它的服务器可以将有关您设备的各种信息放入数据库中，例如您的IP 地址(IP address)、位置、浏览器等。
也可以传递其他变量，例如您正在阅读的电子邮件地址(email address)（基于它发送到的地址）以及查看电子邮件的时间。
电子邮件发件人可以在他们发送给您的电子邮件正文中嵌入透明图像，而您甚至都不会知道这种情况正在发生。不公平，对吧？好消息是，您不必成为这种侵犯隐私的受害者。
如何防止别人知道我何时打开了他们的电子邮件(Their Email)？
有一些选项可以让任何人轻松跟踪其电子邮件的打开情况，例如MailTracker，但大公司通常会使用公司或内部解决方案。如果不是这种情况，只需将某些域添加到您的互联网隐私(internet privacy)设置中，这样就不会加载来自它们的图像。
但是，确实存在更广泛的解决方案：禁止在所有电子邮件中显示图像。除了Windows 10 Mail之外，几乎所有现代(Mail)电子邮件客户端(email client)都提供此选项，包括 Gmail 的网络和移动界面。
要在Gmail(Gmail)中找到此设置，请单击Gmail 网络应用右上角的齿轮图标，然后单击“(cog icon)设置”(Settings)。
这将带您进入 Gmail 的设置。在默认的常规(General)选项卡下，您应该会看到一个图像(Images)选项标签。在这里，确保选择了在显示外部图像之前询问(Ask before displaying
external images)。如果不是，请选择它并单击页面底部的保存更改按钮。(Save Changes)
现在，每当您查看电子邮件时，默认情况下图像都会被阻止。这将阻止跟踪像素从您那里收集任何信息。您会惊讶于有多少“纯文本”电子邮件在其中包含小图像。
另一个好处是，您仍然可以一次性在电子邮件中显示图像，或者将发件人地址完全列入白名单，如“图像不显示(Images are not displayed,)”行下方的两个链接所示。这有助于消除不断确认显示来自您信任的发件人的图像的烦恼。
如果您是 iPhone 或 iPad 用户并且正在使用Gmail 应用程序(Gmail app)，那么您就不走运了。到目前为止，所有图像都会出现，并且没有关闭它的选项(no option to turn it off)。不过， Gmail 应用程序的(Gmail app)Android用户确实可以选择，因此希望它最终能进入Apple设备。
您可能会建立一些信心并开始允许来自您不熟悉的发件人的图像，并发现当您这样做时，不会出现可见的图像。很奇怪(Weird)，对吧？你可能被跟踪了！
Windows 10 Mail 应用程序(Mail app)的众多缺点之一是它不支持此功能。似乎Windows在其最新的(Windows)电子邮件客户端(email client)中采用了“少即是多”的方法，从Outlook转移。
即使您在Windows 10 Mail中设置了(Mail)Gmail，并通过Gmail 网络(Gmail web)应用程序阻止了图像，这仍然无法解决问题。Windows 10 Mail也不支持为您发送的电子邮件请求已读回执。
无论您选择在哪个电子邮件客户端中阻止图像，您都将成为更安全、更私密的电子邮件阅读器(email reader)。许多广告商使用跟踪像素来收集有关其广告活动的统计信息，但它们可用于更邪恶的目的。你最好不要接受来自不受信任的发件人的这种可能性。
始终拒绝已读回执并阻止来自您不信任(t trust)的电子邮件发件人的图像。遵循这两条规则将使您成为最隐秘的电子邮件阅读器(email reader)！
Can Someone Know When I’ve Opened Their Email?
The days of requesting read rеcеipts are long behind us. If you’ve been on the Іnternet for quite a while, you may remember еmail pop-uрs asking for your consent to inform the sender that you’ve opened the email. These still exist at some capacity today, but other, more sneaky tracking methods have since taken over.
One of the first things that many people do
when they get a new phone and begin texting is to turn off read receipts. No
ones like having someone else believe that they’re ignoring them, and that “R”
has gone as far as to end relationships. Most people want their messages
responded to immediately after they’re read.
You may have never realized it, but this same
effect exists in email—except it’s much more difficult for the average user to
“turn it off.”
In this article, let’s talk about the invasive
ways that people have been tracking when you’ve opened their emails and how you
can protect yourself against this.
What is an Email Tracking Pixel?
Your average email reader isn’t aware of just
how powerful an invisible image actually is. Just by loading a single-pixel,
1×1 image, you’re giving away so much information about your machine.
When you load this image, the server it’s
hosted on can place all sorts of information about your device in a database,
like your IP address, location, browser, and more.
Other variables can be passed as well, like
the email address you’re reading from (based on the address it was sent to) and
the time when the email was viewed.
Email senders can embed a transparent image in
the body of an email that they send to you, and you’ll never even know this is
happening. Not fair, right? The good news is that you don’t have to be a victim
of this breach of privacy.
How Can I Prevent Someone from Knowing When I’ve Opened Their Email?
There are options that make it easy for anyone to track the opening of their emails, such as MailTracker, but large companies will often use a corporate or in-house solution. If this wasn’t the case, it’d be easy to simply add certain domains to your internet privacy settings so that images from them are never loaded.
However, a more wide-reaching solution does
exist: disabling the display of images across all emails. This option is
available in practically every modern email client, except Windows 10 Mail,
including Gmail’s web and mobile interfaces.
To find this setting in Gmail, click on the cog icon in the upper-right corner of
Gmail’s web app and then click on Settings.
This will take you into your Gmail’s settings.
Under the default General tab, you
should see an Images option label.
Here, be sure that Ask before displaying
external images is selected. If it’s not, select it and click the Save Changes button at the bottom of
the page.
Now, any time you view an email, the images will be blocked by default. This will prevent tracking pixels from being able to collect any information from you. You’ll be surprised how many “text” only emails have small little images inside them.
An added plus is that you can still display
images within an email on a one-time basis or by completely whitelisting a
sender’s address, as shown in the two links below the “Images are not displayed,” line. This helps with the annoyance of
constantly confirming to display images from senders you trust.
If you’re an iPhone or iPad user and are using the Gmail app, you’re out of luck. As of now, all images will appear and there is no option to turn it off. Android users of the Gmail app do have the option, however, so hopefully it makes it way to Apple devices eventually.
You may build up some confidence and begin
allowing images from senders that you aren’t as familiar with and find that
when you do, no visible images appear. Weird, right? You’re probably being
tracked!
One of the many shortcomings of the Windows 10 Mail app is that it doesn’t support this feature. It seems like Windows has gone with a “less is more” approach in their latest email client, shifting away from Outlook.
Even if you set up your Gmail in Windows 10 Mail, with images blocked through the Gmail web app, this still won’t do the trick. Windows 10 Mail also doesn’t support requesting read receipts for your sent emails.
No matter what email client you choose to
block images in, you’ll be a safer and more private email reader. Many
advertisers use tracking pixels to gather statistics about their ad campaigns,
but they can be used for much more nefarious purposes. You’re better off not
opening yourself up to this possibility from untrusted senders.
Always deny read receipts and block images
from email senders that you don’t trust. Following these two rules will allow
you to be the most stealthy email reader you can be!
