Inbox Full Of Promo Emails? 80% Are Tracking You, New Report Warns

4 days ago

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

50 awesome US retailers sent 42B trading emails successful 28 days.
80% utilized search pixels to show clicks, devices, and location.
Proton Mail calls nan strategies "an engineered battle connected privacy."

A caller Proton Mail study has recovered that retailers crossed nan US are utilizing each instrumentality successful nan book to drawback your attraction complete nan vacation play -- and immoderate of their practices are invading your privacy.

Proton Mail's Spam Watch

According to Proton Mail's caller research, "Spam Watch: The US Inbox Overload + Hidden Tracker Report," 80% of US retailers now embed search exertion successful their trading emails.

Using a controlled Proton Mail inbox, nan squad captured each email sent by nan largest US retailers (with beingness locations) from Nov. 4 to Dec. 1. Each trading email was linked to its timestamp, sender, taxable line, and immoderate embedded search links aliases pixels. The emails were past collated pinch nationalist information connected customer volume, including loyalty rank counts and benchmarks.

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This timeframe not only included standard, normal weeks, but besides what Proton Mail calls "the surge" -- Black Friday, taking spot connected 28 November, done Cyber Monday, connected Dec. 1.

Based connected this analysis, these companies nonstop astir 1.3 cardinal trading emails per time during a modular week. During nan shopping arena and promotional period, however, this almost doubled, pinch astir 2.55 cardinal emails sent day-to-day.

So, billions of emails are landing successful our inboxes connected a regular basis. Now see really often we are tracked erstwhile we click immoderate of these messages, since 80% of these retailers see search pixels.

These small, invisible images, arsenic good arsenic locator links, are capable to log accusation connected our location, nan clip an email is opened, and our instrumentality type, each of which thief retailers build a floor plan connected america and perchance our shopping habits.

As Proton Mail calls it, these practices "turn nan elemental enactment of opening an email into a information postulation event."

Underhanded strategies

The number of trackers recovered successful trading emails ranged from nary to 16, of which nan worst offenders were CB2, VS Pink, and Victoria's Secret.

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The apical 10 offenders pinch precocious email and locator volumes were:

CB2: Score: 27.39 (13.00 trackers per email × 2.11 emails per day)
Anthropologie: Score: 24.31 (12.90 trackers per email × 1.88 emails per day)
Victoria's Secret: Score: 21.75 (13.84 trackers per email × 1.57 emails per day)
VS Pink: Score: 16.00 (14.00 trackers per email× 1.14 emails per day)
Crate & Barrel: Score: 15.71 (7.86 trackers per email × 2.00 emails per day)
Kate Spade: Score: 12.00 (5.51 trackers per email × 2.18 emails per day)
Pottery Barn: Score: 11.25 (5.00 trackers per email × 2.25 emails per day)
DICK'S Sporting Goods: Score: 9.82 (3.31 trackers per email × 2.96 emails per day)
Lowe's: Score: 9.73 (4.42 trackers per email × 2.20 emails per day)
Urban Outfitters: Score: 9.00 (4.00 trackers per email × 2.25 emails der day)

Other notable email-flooding and tracker-happy US retailers included J. Crew, Aerie, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom, and JCPenney.

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The measurement of emails a institution sends, while annoying, does not ever correlate pinch nan heavy-handed usage of trackers. Proton Mail besides classed nan organizations astir apt to usage trackers, dubbed nan "silent stalkers." These retailers whitethorn nonstop less emails, but according to Proton Mail, they "aggressively excavation information from each interaction."

The 10 "silent stalkers" are:

VS Pink: 14.00 trackers per email
Victoria's Secret: 13.84 trackers per email
CB2: 13.00 trackers per email
Anthropologie: 12.90 trackers per email
Ulta Beauty: 12.00 trackers per email
Aerie: 9.00 trackers per email
J. Crew: 8.50 trackers per email
Crate & Barrel: 7.86 trackers per email
REI: 6.83 trackers per email
Kate Spade: 5.51 trackers per email

The study besides highlights nan "100% Club," which includes 40 retired of nan 50 brands audited, successful which astatine slightest 1 locator was recovered successful each email they sent to customers. In different words, for 8 retired of 10 awesome US retailers, "tracking is not an optional tactic; it is simply a hardcoded default."

"The Spam Watch findings corroborate a harsh reality: nan inbox has go a high-volume, high-noise transmission wherever brands conflict for attraction while silently gathering information connected each open," commented Anant Vijay Singh, Head of Product astatine Proton Mail. "This is not accidental -- it is an engineered battle connected your attraction and your privacy."

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While nan study has highlighted retailers going overboard pinch customer profiling and tracking, it doesn't mean that each audited institution has opted to dainty its clients successful this way. In total, six retailers that sent trading emails during this timeframe decided not to usage spy pixels aliases trackers astatine all. These companies are Bass Pro Shops, Burlington, Dillard's, H&M, New Balance, and TJ Maxx.

Reduce spam successful your inbox

Now that email is utilized arsenic a superior root of communication, it tin beryllium incredibly frustrating to unfastened up your inbox and spot that retailers person flooded it pinch promotions and taxable lines screaming for your attention. Not only is this incredibly annoying, but it tin besides mean that you miss important announcements aliases messages caught successful a shopping tsunami.

Also: This caller Gmail instrumentality lets you declutter your inbox successful seconds - here's really to usage it

However, location are immoderate steps you tin return to trim nan spam successful your inbox -- and this tin beryllium of use to your privacy, too.

My first portion of proposal is to abstracted your online shopping habits and accounts from your main email account. I do this by dedicating an email reside purely for usage pinch online shops, which drastically reduces nan measurement of promotional emails I receive. I besides person different email relationship that I usage if I want to entree a website, but I don't want to manus complete my "true" email address.

If you person nan time, you could besides spell done nan process of unsubscribing to trading emails, but this tin beryllium a time-consuming process -- and truthful it mightiness conscionable beryllium quicker to usage a secondary email reside and past only click connected messages related to your orders.