Apple changes ‘hide my email' domain: What it means for your privacy?

Apple has changed the “hide my email” domain, significantly degrading the privacy power it used to hold.

The tech giant confirmed in a developer note on Monday, June 15, that it will change its anonymously generated email address from the @icloud.com domain to @private.icloud.com in the coming weeks.

This seemingly minor change has major privacy implications for iCloud+ subscribers who focus on the feature to protect their personal email addresses.

At present, the Hide My Email service uses random @icloud.com email addresses, which redirect all received mail to users’ actual email accounts. As these cannot be separated from the typical iCloud mail account, any attempt to block such aliases would also result in the rejection of actual iCloud email addresses. The introduction of a subdomain makes this possible now.

Security experts and users quickly criticised the move on social media, with many stating that it undermines the core privacy purpose of the feature.

The company assured developers that existing addresses on legacy domains will continue functioning without interruption. But all newly generated addresses after the migration will follow a new domain.

The upgrade will also be effective for Sign in with Apple.

Timing is significant considering that the Trump administration had recently begun working on uncovering anonymous users by subpoenaing technology firms. Apple has not made known its reasons for the alteration. Email providers and developers have been encouraged to update their software prior to implementation in order to continue services.