Fed up with spam? Tired of telemarketing calls? Feelin’ paranoid about identity theft? … Here you’ll find a bunch “throwaway” web tools that can help you out.
Disposable email account
Mintemail - Instant disposable email for any ‘fishy’ registration form or sign-up. Go to mintemail.com and a random email address will be automatically generated and copied to your clipboard. You can either bookmark the location of created inbox and use it on a regular basis or always use a new one.
Highlights include: Automatic eMail verification, email forwarding, option to set custom expiry times (from 1 hour to 1 month) and more.
Disposable phone number
Numbr - This is a really good one. Basically, Numbr gives you an anonymous disposable phone number that can be set to forward all incoming calls to any provided landline or mobile number (US only). Absolutely free. It’s an ideal solution for times when you want to keep your phone private but want to list your contact number in places like classifieds listings, social networking sites, blogs, etc.
Along with the number, you also get access to dozens of cool functionalities, i.e. forward to voicemail, ability to activate/deactivate nr. at any time, etc. Read more: Numbr - Disposable Phone Number.
Disposable login details
BugMeNot - Here you can get disposable login details (username/password) for a huge number of popular news/review/download websites that normally require users to register.
For example, let’s say you clicked on a link that points to an article on a popular media website (eg. NYT). Usually instead of landing straight on the article page you’re asked to signin or register. Maybe there is a good reason behind it, but what’s the point of signing up if that is your first and only visit to that website. When it comes to BugMeNot, it instantly gets you a number of “public” login details that can be used to access the website. It’s fast, it’s convenient and you don’t have to worry about getting spammed. Check out full feature list in BugMeNot review.
Disposable name and address generator
FakeNameGenerator - Fun tool for quickly generating fake but totally sound names and contact address. Cool part about it, not only you get to choose country of residence but can also specify what kind of name you’re looking for, i.e. Chinese, American, Indian, etc.
Disposable file sharing
File.io - Anonymous file sharing service where you can upload and share file/s (via password-protected URL) for 30 days. Once 30 day period is over, all shared files will be automatically deleted. Read More: File.io - Disposable File Sharing.
Are you aware of any other ‘disposable’ web service ? Share it in comments.
Filed Under: Browser ¦ Cool Websites ¦ Lists of tools
Tags: browser tips, disposable, email, file sharing, online storage, phone number, privacy, safer browsing, security
Another good disposable service is http://www.drop.io – drop.io lets you create drops which are disposable web addresses that you can store files, notes, whatever on at http://www.drop.io/disposablespace - all the media gets converted to be web friendly. But the service also automatically gives you an email address at disposablespace@drop.io – this is really useful simple way to be able to receive emails and store whatever you want online without any registration… i have used it several times and really like it.
I completely forgot about drop.io, it definitely qualifies as disposable file storage. It also has lots of excellent features. Reat more @ Drop.io : Private File Sharing and Collaboration
awesome post!! really important.. ill save it to my bookmar.
thank you..
I’ve used spammotel.com for several years which gives permanent, long-term email storage. Also, trashmail.net for temp email accounts.
Nice little collection. What are the privacy policies at online file storage places?
I also use gmail for this stuff– just generate a new account with usual.name.thisjunkysite@gmail.com. Then I can track and see how sleazy the site really is. And nothing goes away, so I can find it later, if need be.
I think you meant thisjunkysite+usual.name@gmail.com.
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disposable, shareable notes : http://cl1p.net/
Thanks
I just tried Mintemail. The site says “MintEmail.com gives you a four hour temporary email address.” I use mailinator.com for junk sites. Mailinator only holds your messages for 15 muinutes and if you have an unusual name there it is likely no one would read it. But for those pesky registration sites it is great.
MintEmail is actually based on the code I wrote and open sourced for 2Prong.com. I’d also point out that 2Prong has a new domain every few weeks to avoid Mailinator style domain bans.
Just wanted to point that out. Great tips on the Numbr thing, thanks.
Thanks, I will make sure to mention 2Prong whenever I recommend Mintemail again.
mailinator.com……for email
I have been using http://www.grandcentral.com by google.
Yep, GrandCentral is pretty good too, the only problem it’s still in closed beta.
WH4F has disposable email accounts as well
URL for file-io is bad.
Correct URL is:
http://file.io
Yes, the www does actually mean something.
Thanks, it’s fixed now.
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com (tags: anonymity fake free tools privacy disposable internet) [...]
FYI- Bugmenot tends to not work….
It’s a community powered service so it just needs to get bigger and more active. As it grows larger quality of login details will improve.
Great article, I posted something before but it wasnt up. dugg. I also posted it on , opentopix dot com
I use http://www.sneakemail.com/ for disposable email addresses. It works fantastically well.
I’ve used all of these before, but the disposable phone number surprised me. As for the identity generator, you’re better off randomly searching the yellow pages. It’s pretty easy to verify addresses now.
“It’s pretty easy to verify addresses now.”
Are there any free ones? Can you post couple of links.
Thanks.
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com (tags: cool) [...]
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com [...]
@Matt: I didn’t know there were any cheap places that verify addresses.. Do you know of a cheap/free one?
Check out 10-Minute Mail.com
Works like a charm!
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com (tags: email privacy tools) [...]
I’ve used GishPuppy for a while now. Full online management and a firefox extension so I don’t have to leave the page I’m filling in.
Actually, if you use Mintemail you don’t have to leave the page either. Basically, you can use any random email ID during some sign-up and it will be automatically generated upon first incoming email. And if there is a confirmation link in the message, it will be automatically confirmed as well.
We sometimes use disposable video rooms at mebeam
Disposable Email - Account disappears as soon as the browser closes.
http://2prong.com
I would recommend dodgeit.com for fake emails.
I use http://www.spaml.com for all my disposable email needs. It automatically checks new mail for you.
[...] read more | digg story [...]
10minutemail.com is a throwaway email generator. You can extend the time if need be — I don’t know if this is indefinite as I’ve never needed to do so more than once.
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com (tags: security tools privacy resources) [...]
Spamgourmet.com
I’ve use them for the last 3 yrs and its so easy. I must have about 200 addresses. Instantly come up with email address, since emails addressing goes “anything you want”.”# of emails you want to get”.”user id”@spamgourmet.com. So just to keep track of how well certain site keep your email private, I put the website’s name into the address I creat.
I have wrote about spamgourmet earlier. It’s a pretty extensive disposable email service. Also probably with the highest number of features. The only drawback, it’s not as simple as other ones and takes a while to get used to.
[...] Via. MakeUseOF [...]
I can’t believe I haven’t seen Spamgourmet(.com) mentioned. Your e-mail is permanently (unless you change it) associated with a spamgourmet login, and you append a prefix to your login@spamgourmet.com to have all e-mails sent to that prefix forwarded to your e-mail address. The beauty comes in the prefix — you can specify a certain number of messages forwarded before the prefix becomes inactive, or you can associate it to forward e-mail from only one address. All of this is done in the e-mail address itself, so you don’t need to go and create an address.
[...] sites to consider for making accounts that you may not want to keep online: 5 “Disposable” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe [...]
This really has nothing to do with the topic, but http://esnailer.com/ lets you mail some online. It’s totally free too! Great post by the way.
This http://esnailer.com/ is a load of crap. They don’t send anything for you, and they make you sign up for crap after crap, and then in the end they say they can’t send the letter. But if you don’t want to sign up for the crap, you have the option of paying them $1.50 from paypal. This is nothing but a spam site.
Jeremy
[...] “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com Fed up with spam? Tired of telemarketing calls? Feelin’ paranoid about identity theft? … Here [...]
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe [...]
[...] 5 DISPOSABLE Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe [...]
I use
10minutemail.com
instead of the one listed here, and quite like it.
[...] Napisane w Ciekawe strony, Internet Sieć, wielce potężne i olbrzymie medium coraz częściej “zmusza” użytkownika do interakcji - rejestracji, podawania swojego numeru, wieku itp. Użytkownik świadomy - rozumiejący, że anonimowość w sieci to rzecz cenna - spróbuje wygenerować losowy ciąg znaków. Pytanie tylko po co, skoro istnieją już ku temu rozwiązania (przykłady za makeuseof)? [...]
[...] help protect your information, Kenneth Belva just posted a link to a list of disposable web accounts that you can use. [...]
Spamify.com generates a disposable email address for you as well, it lasts 15 minutes, and you can also respond to messages sent to the disposable email address. If 15 minutes isn’t enough time, you can click a button and get another 15 minutes.
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com (tags: article blog free generator internet tools privacy security resources) [...]
[...] seems that you can get disposable anything these days on the net. Now it seems you can have disposable webpages that self-destruct after the [...]
Free disposable UK phone numbers at datingnumbers.com
Sorry, URL should be http://datingnumbers.com/call.html
[...] 5 ?DISPOSABLE? Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com - [...]
[...] and tryout the service before committing your actual identity to whomever is behind the site. Well makeuseof.com has a great article about 5 disposable account types. Email, Phone Number, Log-in Details, Name and [...]
[...] The full article is here . [...]
[...] mint mail to your real email address and extend the duration up to 3 months. [mint email] via makeuseof Sphere: Related [...]
You can create free disposable addresses with Yahoo.
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe [...]
Great Website for Identity Theft Information and Resources:
http://www.IDTheftDefense.com
Ever heard of litedrop?? No signup, rss feeds, easy access, very nice clean and fast!
http://www.litedrop.com
Anyway I just use this if some website want me to register just to get information from their website lol, that just stupid
[...] You might also want to see 8 Firefox addons for Privacy and Security as well as 5 disposable web accounts to keep your identity safe. [...]
[...] 5 “DISPOSABLE” Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe | MakeUseOf.com [...]
What about a disposable email service that creates new domains just like the 2prong creator says it does?
[...] makeuseof.com [...]
[...] Be stealthy and covert on the web. makeuseof.com [...]
Guys: Try PeopleSearches.com - Kool Stuff too
http://www.PeopleSearches.com
I am in love with BugMeNot, I have the Firefox extension for it