Episode summary

I believe your email account should only be for email. Instead, most free email providers turn your email account into an account for all their services.

Google is probably the worst for this. Your Gmail account is actually a Google account that gives you access to Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Chat, YouTube, and much more.

On top of that, many websites allow you to "Log in with Gmail." This expands even further the number of accounts that are directly connected to your email account.

Taken all together, this is a security nightmare. Email accounts are already enough of a master key to your online identity, just through their ability to reset forgotten passwords.

All these accounts being tied to your email also means a lot more opportunities for you to get caught in a phishing attack - because you’re entering your email password not just to access your email, but to access all sorts of other services as well.

Links

https://workspace.google.com/blog/identity-and-security/defending-against-account-takeovers-top-threats-passkeys-and-dbsc

https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/phishing-trends-q2-2025-microsoft-maintains-top-spot-spotify-reenters-as-a-prime-target/

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

Blocking all spam before we see it is tough. Email providers are reluctant to block it entirely, in case they are wrong and it’s not spam. The compromise is that they send it to the Spam or Junk folder, where it can be recovered.

As the reader of that email, though, it’s often easy for us to identify it as spam and say, "I never want to receive email from this sender again."

This is where the "Block Sender" feature that some email providers have, including Gmail and Fastmail, comes in.

There’s a big difference, though. In Gmail, the email still ends up clogging up the Spam folder. In Fastmail, it goes straight to the Trash, so I never have to see it.

That may sound like a little thing, but when you’re dealing with spam, it adds up. What’s more, I think it’s symbolic of Fastmail's greater commitment to fighting spam.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

You have an email account, but how did you pick your email provider? Do you use Gmail simply because that’s what everyone you know uses?

I want your choice of email provider to be intentional, not accidental. Today is the first in a series of episodes where we’ll examine my most important considerations when picking an email provider.

Some will be "micro" considerations: specific, individual features. Do they have tags or folders? A "Report Phishing" button? How many aliases do they allow?

Some of them will be "macro" considerations: bigger-picture sorts of questions. How do they make their money? What kind of customer support do they have? Are they working to improve the email ecosystem for everyone?

I’m going to show you why I prefer Fastmail to Gmail and the other big free providers, like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

When I choose a digital or tech service, I look for a company with a clear focus that aligns with mine. For each option, ask yourself: what’s the one thing this company does really well?

Take Gmail, the most widely used email provider. If you ask what Google’s "one thing" is, some people might say email - but I’d argue most would say "search." For me, I see it as building the internet by means of an advertising economy. A great thing in many ways, but does nothing to make me think they are going to be the best email provider.

That’s why I prefer companies with a single, obvious focus. It’s a simple principle, but it’s guided me well. It's no coincidence that most of my favorite security tools share this trait: Fastmail, 1Password, Little Snitch, Syncthing, and Signal.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

When you join the email workshop, you will be making some decisions. The first two are simple but important: which email provider you’ll use, and which email client.

Your email provider is the company that gives you an inbox and stores your messages on their servers. The big ones are Google (Gmail), Microsoft (Outlook, Hotmail, Live), Yahoo, and Apple (iCloud).

An email client is the app you use to read and send email. There are a lot of options. On your phone, that might be Apple Mail or the Gmail app. On your laptop, it's most often your web browser.

Personally, I’ve used Fastmail as my provider since 2013. On my phone, I use their custom app (which I love), and on my laptop, I use a browser.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

Most people I know have email inboxes that are overflowing. I can’t count how many times someone has proudly (or sheepishly) shown me their phone with hundreds - sometimes thousands - of unread emails piled up.

That would drive me comletely insane. For me, ending most days with an empty inbox isn’t just satisfying - it’s also a big security win. That’s why we’re tackling it in the workshop.

Reaching inbox zero takes the right tools and strategies. But the most overlooked piece is mindset. If you don’t accept the reality of the tiny amount of time you have to read email, you’ll never make the changes needed to get to inbox zero.

If you’re ready to hit inbox zero - daily, weekly, or even monthly - join me in the email workshop.

Links

Digital Organization Guru I like

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

Privacy is a popular buzzword these days, but not one you have heard a ton about from me. Especially with email. Mostly because the email system we all depend on was not built for strong privacy.

Some companies, like Proton and Tuta, provide encrypted email services. I trust, respect, and am in fact, extremely grateful for their efforts to compensate for such a huge failing in our email system. But when I want true privacy, I don’t count on email - I use tools built for it, like Signal.

Life is full of tradeoffs, and choosing an email provider is no different. In the workshop, we’ll dig into those privacy tradeoffs and help you find the option that best fits your needs.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Episode summary

This may be the fourth priority in our email workshop, but it’s truly #1 in importance: protecting your email account from takeover. Your email is the master key to all your online accounts. If you want to keep anything secure, you have to start here.

The good news? It doesn’t take much. The first step is simple, but it’s something most people still don’t do: use a unique password. I'm not asking you to stop reusing passwords in general. For now, please just start by never reusing your email password - keep that one password unique to your email account.

After that, you should enable two-factor authentication for your account. Ideally through an authenticator app, not a text message to your phone.

There are a few more advanced steps depending on your situation, but if you have a strong, unique password and 2FA, you’ve built a solid foundation for keeping your email - and everything it unlocks - safe.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Helpful episodes to listen to first

Even a Security Expert Can Get Phished

Episode summary

Today's priority for our email workshop is learning how to dodge the phishers. Too often the only advice we hear is: don't click the wrong thing. While true, that also means living in a state of what Mad-Eye Moody calls constant vigilance! That sounds exhausting.

The real problem is that email was never designed with strong safeguards against impersonation. I still remember, as a teenager, emailing my friends - pretending to be Santa. Email has gotten better in the last 30 years, but not by much.

In the workshop, you’ll learn two extra layers of phishing protection that almost nobody uses. First, use a unique email address for with each website that sends you email. I'll show you how to make this simple.

Second, only allow approved senders into your inbox. This provides a specific trigger to raise your caution level when it's needed the most.

Join me if you're ready to stop being an easy phish to catch.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani

Helpful episodes to listen to first

10 Spam Per Year

Episode summary

The second priority of our email workshop is eliminating spam. It’s one of the biggest sources of email stress -- see episode 86 for why this matters so much.

Cutting out spam also removes most phishing attempts before they ever reach you. Yet many people see spam like death and taxes: unavoidable.

I’m here to tell you that spam IS avoidable. With the right tools -- and the skills to use them effectively -- you can beat spam. I’ve done it myself, keeping my spam to just 10 messages a year (see episode 17).

Join me in the workshop and learn how to make spam a thing of the past.

Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter Kit

Get help from Makani