Hi Guys,
Did you know that when somebody sends you an email they are able to see some or all of the following:
- Whether you have opened the email
- How many times you have opened it
- When you opened it
- Where you were at the time.
- If you clicked on the links
- If you opened an attachment
How is this possible?
The sender signs up to an email tracking service. Most of these services offer free trials and are extremely cheap for the full versions meaning that anyone can sign up. Once signed up they allow the sender to embed a single tracking pixel (a tiny image) into the email which is usually hidden. Every time you open the email code within the pixel sends the above tracking info back to the sender.
How do you fix it?
This is a really easy one to fix. All you have to do is disable the autoloading of images in your email program and the sender will not be able to track you using hidden images. Here are easy to follow instructions for nearly every setup. If your email client is not listed please email us and our Privacy Care team will help you out.
Disable Image Autoloading in Gmail
- Login to Gmail
- Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner to access your settings
- In the “General” tab (the first one), scroll down to “Images”
- Select “Ask before displaying external images”
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Save Changes”
Disable Image Autoloading in Microsoft Outlook
- Click on “File” > “Options”
- In the “Outlook Options” window, select “Trust Center”
- Click on the “Trust Center Settings” button
- Check the box labeled “Don’t download pictures automatically in standard HTML messages or RSS items”
- Check the box “Don’t download pictures in encrypted or signed HTML email messages.”
- You can make a number of exceptions to the first item if you want by checking the boxes underneath it.
Disable Image Autoloading in Microsoft Mail:
- Click on the gear icon on the bottom left
- From the “Settings” menu on the right, select “Reading pane”
- At the bottom of the menu on the right, turn off “Automatically download external images and style formats except S/MIME Mail”
- If you are using Mail with more than one email account, make sure “Apply to all accounts” is checked
Disable Image Autoloading in Apple Mail:
- Select “Mail” > “Preferences”
- Click on the “Viewing” tab
- Uncheck “Load remote content in messages”
Disable Image Autoloading in Gmail for Android:
- Tap on the three lines in the upper left corner
- Scroll down to and select “Settings”
- Tap on the email account that you want to work with
- Scroll down to and select “Images”
- Tap on “Ask before displaying external images”
Disable Image Autoloading in Gmail for iOS:
- Open Gmail for iOS
- Tap the hamburger menu in the upper left
- Scroll down to settings
- Tap the account you want to personalize, and tap into “Images”
- Switch from “Always display external images” to “Ask before displaying external images”
Disable Image Autoloading in iOS Email:
- Tap on “Settings”
- Scroll down to “Mail”
- Go to the “Messages” section and turn off “Load Remote Images”
Please let me know if you need any help with this or with anything else.
Thank you for reading and have a great day.
Max Roberts,
Incognito Privacy Care Team.