Here's how to avoid tracking by promotional mails on Outlook, Apple Mail and Gmail

Users in the tech world are likely to bump into a promotional mail sooner or later if they are utilizing common email companies like Gmail, Outlook, and even Apple mail. Scarily enough, these promotional mails cannot only make you incline towards a product but can also determine if the mail was opened or not along with the time spent on them. 

For those who are confused about how that happens, the answer is through “email tracking pixels”, which can be sent in the form of a promotional photo. Using this technology, the email that is embedded with a single tracking pixel sends the information back to the company’s servers. These trackers can accumulate data for users’ targeted ads without the user accessing other emails or personal information.

Now those wondering how this technology can be blocked out of the system, one of the several solutions is deactivating the automatic download (or loading) of external images which enhances a user’s online security. These are the possible solutions for avoiding the unwanted and automated inclusion of external images on Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Gmail.

Microsoft Outlook 

For desktop users, open the Outlook app, then click on File>  Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Automatic Download. In the next step, turn off the automatic download of pictures in RSS items or standard HTML e-mail messages.  Mac users, on the other hand, can select Microsoft Outlook > Preferences > Reading > Security. Then they can deactivate automatic download of images by selecting ‘Never’ or select the option for downloading images sent from one of the contacts. Meanwhile, Outlook users in mobile phones can go to Settings, followed by the selection of accounts and turn on the Block external images button. 

Apple Mail

Apple users in Macbook can disable automatic image download simply by  Mail > Preferences > Viewing, then deactivating the Load remote content option. While for iPhone, users can do the same by clicking on Settings > Mail and switching off Load Remote Images.

Gmail

To deactivate automated downloading of outside images, click on Settings after opening the platform then choose ‘See all settings’. In the next step, go to the General tab > find Photos > choose Ask before displaying exterior photos. Once done, save changes after scrolling down. However, gmail users on mobile phones will have to again visit the Settings and select their desired account. Then they can select Ask before displaying external images and complete the process by scrolling and saving the changes. 

(IMAGE: TWITTER/ @SAMSON_MAISH)