Thread: Alias privacy
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Old 5 Jan 2018, 01:08 PM   #4
n5bb
Intergalactic Postmaster
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Irving, Texas
Posts: 8,925
Arrow Headers and server logs

As BritTim correctly states, when using the Fastmail web system the alias will be shown as the From address but your main (login) Fastmail account address will not be shown in the transmitted email.

Email services use log files to keep track of each email which is sent or received. This is required to discover problems and improve performance of the system. The service provider can also examine the logs if they suspect breach of their terms of service or attacks on the system. Use for legal purposes is probably very rare.

Fastmail uses the Postfix MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) software package. When you send a message using the Fastmail web interface, one of the headers added to the message is similar to the following:
Code:
Message-Id: <1578124458.743963.1224337288.119G2C77@webmail.messagingengine.com>
The Message-Id header is unique. No other message sent on the internet should ever have that identical Message-Id content. So if there is a question about a message, Fastmail can go back and find that Message-Id in their server logs and see what happened - which account sent the message, when it was sent, which server it was delivered to, etc.

But all the message recipient knows is the From address you use (the alias created by an identity entry). If they look at the full headers they can also see that the message was sent by the Fastmail webmail interface:
Code:
X-Mailer: MessagingEngine.com Webmail Interface - ajax-cc9a457c
So both the X-Mailer and Message-Id headers show the recipient that the message was sent via webmail by the MessagingEngine.com system (which it's easy to discover is run by Fastmail). But your account name (login address) is never revealed.

Bill
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