Apple Hide My Email service faces blocking risk with domain change
Original: Apple is about to make Hide My Email useless
Why This Matters
Apple's email privacy feature effectiveness depends on widespread service acceptance; domain consolidation could significantly reduce user protection and adoption of Hide My Email.
Apple announced on June 15, 2026 that Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email aliases will migrate to @private.icloud.com domain. The change makes it easier for services to block all aliases simultaneously, potentially reducing the feature's effectiveness and privacy protection.
Apple announced a domain change for its Hide My Email service on June 15, 2026, moving both Sign in with Apple and iCloud+ Hide My Email aliases to the @private.icloud.com subdomain. Previously, these aliases used the standard @icloud.com domain alongside regular iCloud mailboxes. The new arrangement consolidates all relay-based emails under a single identifiable domain, making it simpler for services to block all aliases at once without affecting standard iCloud mail users. This represents a significant impact on iCloud privacy features, as the previous setup provided "plausible deniability" with Apple's backing, making it costly for services to ban these addresses. With the new domain structure, many services are expected to reject @private.icloud.com addresses entirely, similar to how temporary mailbox services are commonly blocked. The change has not yet been implemented. Users with iCloud+ can currently generate additional aliases on @icloud.com before the transition occurs, with a creation rate of at least 30 aliases per hour available.