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 Reducing spam
Reducing Spam
Spam is a common, and often frustrating, side effect to having an
email account. Although you will probably not be able to eliminate it,
there are ways to reduce it.
What is spam?
Spam is the electronic version of "junk mail." The term spam refers
to unsolicited, often unwanted, email messages. Spam does not
necessarily contain viruses--valid messages from legitimate sources
could fall into this category.
How can you reduce the amount of spam?
There are some steps you can take to significantly reduce the amount
of spam you receive:
 | Don't give your email address out arbitrarily - Email addresses
have become so common that a space for them is often included on any
form that asks for your address--even comment cards at restaurants.
It seems harmless, so many people write them in the space provided
without realizing what could happen to that information. For
example, companies often enter the addresses into a database so that
they can keep track of their customers and the customers'
preferences. Sometimes these lists are sold to or shared with other
companies, and suddenly you are receiving email that you didn't
request. |
| Check privacy policies - Before submitting your email address
online, look for a privacy policy. Most reputable sites will have a
link to their privacy policy from any form where you're asked to
submit personal data. You should read this policy before submitting
your email address or any other personal information so that you
know what the owners of the site plan to do with the information.
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| Be aware of options selected by default - When you sign up for
some online accounts or services, there may be a section that
provides you with the option to receive email about other products
and services. Sometimes there are options selected by default, so if
you do not deselect them, you could begin to receive email from
lists those lists as well. |
| Use filters - Many email programs offer filtering capabilities
that allow you to block certain addresses or to only allow email
from addresses on your contact list. Some ISPs offer spam "tagging"
or filtering services, but legitimate messages misclassified as spam
might be dropped before reaching your inbox. However, many ISPs that
offer filtering services also provide options for tagging suspected
spam messages so the end user can more easily identify them. This
can be useful in conjunction with filtering capabilities provided by
many email programs. |
| Don't follow links in spam messages - Some spam relies on
generators that try variations of email addresses at certain
domains. If you click a link within an email message or reply to a
certain address, you are just confirming that your email address is
valid. Unwanted messages that offer an "unsubscribe" option are
particularly tempting, but this is often just a method for
collecting valid addresses that are then sent other spam. |
| Disable the automatic downloading of graphics in HTML mail -
Many spammers send HTML mail with a linked graphic file that is then
used to track who opens the mail message--when your mail client
downloads the graphic from their web server, they know you've opened
the message. Disabling HTML mail entirely and viewing messages in
plain text also prevents this problem. |
| Consider opening an additional email account - Many domains
offer free email accounts. If you frequently submit your email
address (for online shopping, signing up for services, or including
it on something like a comment card), you may want to have a
secondary email account to protect your primary email account from
any spam that could be generated. You should also use a secondary
account when posting to online bulletin boards, chat rooms, public
mailing lists, or USENET so that you can get rid of when it starts
filling up with spam. |
| Don't spam other people - Be a responsible and considerate user.
Some people consider email forwards a type of spam, so be selective
with the messages you redistribute. Don't forward every message to
everyone in your address book, and if someone asks that you not
forward messages to them, respect their request. |
Both the National Cyber Security Alliance and US-CERT have identified
this topic as one of the top ten for home users.
Authors: Mindi McDowell, Allen Householder
Copyright 2004 Carnegie Mellon University.
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