Apple patent application describes method to curb spam using disposable email addresses

The US Patent and Trademark Office recently published a patent application from Apple that described a system to curb spam email. The system works at the server level and uses disposable email addresses to redirect spam from the user’s inbox. The patent application, titled “Disposable email address generation and mapping to a regular email account,” describes an automated system that creates a temporary email address and associates it with a permanent email address. If spam is received through the system, the backend server would detect these emails, reroute them through a disposable email and identify the correspondent that was the source of the spam. An integrated system allows easily creating and using disposable email addresses. The disposable email address is created by an email server, which manages correspondence using the disposable email address to avoid exposing the associated non-disposable email address. Context information may be associated with a disposable email address, where the context information is not visible in email sent using the disposable email address. Expiration information may also be associated with the disposable email address, where the expiration information defines conditions that cause the disposable email address to expire. Should the disposable address be misused, the associated context may allow a user to recognize what correspondent exposed the disposable address to misuse. These temporary email address would be indistinguishable from the permanent, allowing the user to manage spam without accidentally exposing their permanent email address. Apple proposes an extension of this system that could run as a browser plug-in or within a standalone email client. [Via AppleInsider] Continue reading →

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