Live data from Hacker News

Firefox Relay

relay.firefox.com

11–20 of 160 posts

Re: Firefox Relay

#11
post #3
post #2

Won’t websites just blacklist this domain from creating accounts?

It's rare though. I have been using alias services like Anonaddy and SimpleLogin for nearly two years. I have seen only on website block SimpleLogin, and it was a Pixelfed instance. I simply signed up on another Pixelfed instance as these are federated. These alias companies also have multiple domains, so in a way these blocks can be worked around.

Mailinator's domains are pretty much all blocked in lots of cases. There are lists filled with such domains that services often seem to use.

Re: Firefox Relay

#12
I'm conflicted about this.

For me, the best implementation of private alias is the Apple one: %randomwords%[at]icloud.com. It's way harder to wildcard block [at]icloud.com, as there are legit users of the icloud domain, than a wildcard block for: [at]mozmail.com.

Unfortunately, using the apple implementation is just one more stone into their walled garden. I really wish firefox could create a legit free [at]firefox (or something else) mail and then create this alias service as premium bundle. It would be way harder for services to start blocking it.

Furthermore, I'm not really excited to the overall direction that Mozilla is moving with its side projects:

1. They bought Pocket (which I loved) and now it's on life support.

2. They created an awesome private file sharing service (firefox send) and quickly butchered it.

3. They have a vpn that is simply mullvad with new clothes and fewer geographic availability. Why anyone would use it instead of mullvad is beyond me.

Mozilla needs some serious trust building before I trust it to manage several mail aliases for me.

Re: Firefox Relay

#13
post #8

This is cool, however, personally I feel like for my use case that integration with 1Password and Fastmail is better because I don't want to depend on a browser that I cannot use everywhere to manage this. In the same way that I avoid Sign in with Apple - what am I supposed to do when I need to Sign in without Apple?! I find 1P+FM is a much more cross-platform solution. However, I commend Firefox for creating this fu…

You can use Apple’s solution even if on Linux and using any browser.

Re: Firefox Relay

#14

I'm conflicted about this. For me, the best implementation of private alias is the Apple one: %randomwords%[at]icloud.com. It's way harder to wildcard block [at]icloud.com, as there are legit users of the icloud domain, than a wildcard block for: [at]mozmail.com. Unfortunately, using the apple implementation is just one more stone into their walled garden. I really wish firefox could create a legit free [at]firefox (…

Agreed. They are all over the place and don't take good care of the only important thing, which is the browser. If I want a vpn, I will get a vpn. Same with email alias. This is yet another distraction. I'm not very optimistic.

Re: Firefox Relay

#15
post #8

This is cool, however, personally I feel like for my use case that integration with 1Password and Fastmail is better because I don't want to depend on a browser that I cannot use everywhere to manage this. In the same way that I avoid Sign in with Apple - what am I supposed to do when I need to Sign in without Apple?! I find 1P+FM is a much more cross-platform solution. However, I commend Firefox for creating this fu…

Sign In with Apple is a regular OAuth service and works fine in a browser.

Re: Firefox Relay

#16
post #7

You can only hope that the service will last long enough and not be discontinued like Firefox Send. Otherwise you have created online accounts with dead alias emails. I create the alias mail addresses in my postfix installation under /etc/aliases

I have domains with catchall so every email is different, can be created on the fly and can be easily revoked. This is the simplest solution I think.

Re: Firefox Relay

#17
Hell no I ain't touching this with a 10feet pole.

Would rather try and struggle to live email-free than create a profile of addresses which mozilla would have.Don't get me wrong still a step above google, zuck & cook, but people who think this is the solution are delusional, even if this service is for non-critical emails.

Re: Firefox Relay

#18
post #3
post #2

Won’t websites just blacklist this domain from creating accounts?

It's rare though. I have been using alias services like Anonaddy and SimpleLogin for nearly two years. I have seen only on website block SimpleLogin, and it was a Pixelfed instance. I simply signed up on another Pixelfed instance as these are federated. These alias companies also have multiple domains, so in a way these blocks can be worked around.

About a year after Gmail launched, commercial services blocked the domain for account registration, in droves. I remember seeing errors about using "free" email services. It hasn't happened yet me in a long time but I also use a wildcard address and a personal domain for most things now. (My gmail account is regularly blocked but that's becaue people assume it's fake and they use it for testing... I get all the spam.)

Re: Firefox Relay

#20
I made this as a side project a while back. The issue I ran into is my server being blocked to send due to its ASN even though it only sends to my addresses.
Post reply on HN