Provide accounts with a 'semi-permanent' (non-ISP-dependent)
email contact address, e.g., icloud.com, gmail.com.
An ISP address can disappear if you move and/or change ISPs.
Optional: provide phone# (voice / text) as a backup contact,
and perhaps 2nd email. Update mailing address?
Your primary email account, used as contact,
often as a username for other accounts, is important to protect
-- it's often used for receiving password resets for those other accounts!
Supply a second (backup, semi-permanent) email address
to receive notifications about unexpected logins or password changes
to your email accounts, e.g., primary: gmail & alternate: yahoo;
primary: icloud & alternate: outlook; etc.
Otherwise, if you forgot your primary email password, how could you
access that account, especially any password reset emails?
Since this email account is a "backdoor" into many other accounts,
be sure to access your accounts with encryption, e.g., SSL/TLS,
set all your devices to lock when not in use, and require a strong password to unlock each device.
If a site provides backup/recovery codes, store in PM, e.g., Notes field
-- this is esp. important if password reset or MFA not avail.
Some services provide legacy & emergency contacts, e.g.,
Facebook: Trusted Contact, Legacy Contact
Google: inactive account manager
1Password: (family) emergency kit
Bitwarden: Emergency Access
'Semi-permanent' email addresses probably won't disappear, even thru corporate mergers,
e.g., icloud.com, gmail.com, yahoo.com, outlook.com, aol.com, pobox.com
-- and other mail / forwarding providers (many free)
A 'temporary' email address could disappear when you change jobs, finish school,
or change ISPs (by move, necessity or choice),
e.g., your-job.com/.gov/.org/.edu; ashlandhome.net, charter.net, spectrum.net, mind.net,
comcast.net, att.net, ... -- maybe this is less likely for Rogue Valley retirees?
After a temporary email account is gone, could you easily access any account later
that used that old email as a username or contact?
Create a unique username -- if site doesn't require it to be an email address
or phone number; be sure that PM records it
If site requires an email address as username, use an alias if possible [below].
If you can't, use stronger passwords, better secret answers, MFA!
A unique username is more private
-- more difficult for marketers or hackers to identify you by collating data fragments;
a unique email address might suggest who leaked / sold it to spammers and hackers.
It's more secure -- if hackers found that (unencrypted) username in a data breach,
they could access only that site (assuming they'd discovered the password),
but not other sites (with different usernames).
An email address is less desirable as a username since:
some sites don't allow you to change it later
-- problematic if a temporary email was provided initially;
an email address is not unique (typically) -- so, it's a little less secure/private:
possibility of credential stuffing by hackers & cross-site tracking by marketers.
If you must provide an email address as a username, preferably use:
1. aliased email address; some email providers support permanent aliases,
which all route to a primary email address, e.g., jsmithMail@icloud.com, jsmithList@icloud.com, jsmithTemp@icloud.com,. => jsmith@icloud.com
2. several services generate random email addresses linked to your underlying email:
Apple: Hide My Email create unique, random email addresses to use with apps, websites;
it's built into "Sign in with Apple" (SSO-like service) and iCloud+ (paid plan)
Currently requires a fastmail.com account ($2.50/mo.);
1password.com (your account): Integrations > Masked Email > Fastmail: (connect to FM account)
Firefox Relay: generate unique email aliases;
requires Firefox account (free) and use of Firefox browser and Private Relay extension;
some sites may not accept subdomains in address, e.g., @relay.firefox.com;
can't reply anonymously using that address; limit on size of forwarded attachments
3. semi-permanent email address; e.g., gmail.com, icloud.com, etc.; pobox.com forwards to another address;
in addition some services allow "+" (or other punctuation) for extended addresses,
which route to main email, e.g., jsmith+facebook@gmail.com, ... => jsmith@gmail.com;
this may provide some uniqueness, and spam filtering;
however, some sites might limit punctuation in email usernames, e.g., allow only . and @.
4. temporary (ISP) email address (as last resort),
e.g., if you switch ISPs later, will you still be able to access that account and/or change its username? note: for single-use accounts or email list signup, some temporary email aliases might be ok: Using Disposable Contact Info, Disposable Email Addresses: Sign in with Apple, 10 Minute Mail; Guerrilla Mail; Burner Mail; Firefox Private Relay; Disposable Cell Numbers: Burner