You can have the best spam filter around, but if you’re giving your e-mail address out on pubic forums, websites, or to people you don’t know well, then you are compromising the security and privacy of your e-mail address. It’s a well-known fact that spammers automatically collect e-mail addressed that users post online (known as email scraping).
Can you have the best of both worlds? Is it possible to receive the benefits of sharing your e-mail while keeping your e-mail address private? Now it is, thanks to Scr.im.
How Scr.im Works
First, you type in your e-mail address on the main page. Below that, there is a field to customize your scr.im address (if you leave it blank, you will receive a random address.) Once you’ve filled out these two fields, press enter. That’s all – it really is that simple.
Once you receive a scr.im address, you just use that address whenever you are asked for your e-mail address publicly. When users go to the scr.im address, they receive a CAPTCHA test (a test to ensure that there is, in fact, a human at the other end). This will cut down on spam significantly, as bots will no longer be able to receive your e-mail address.
If your friend successfully completes the CAPTCHA (thus proving they are human), they will receive access to your e-mail address.
The Power of Simplicity
People are busy these days. They don’t want to sign up for yet another service promising to make their lives easier. That’s where scr.im succeeds the most highly.
I found the simplicity of scr.im to be incredibly impressive. There’s no signup page and no need to validate your e-mail address. The entire process of setting up a scr.im address takes about thirty seconds.
Some Possible Drawbacks
Although the service as a whole is impressive, there is one cause of concern: the scr.im address is in http:// — .com format. This is fine, except that some web forms require that e-mail addresses be presented in @emailserver.com format. This could inconvenience some users who want to use scr.im in web forms, and could become a hindrance for the success of scr.im.
Another possible downfall of scr.im is that the CAPTCHA used is a multiple choice question, not an open-ended one. Spammers are, if nothing else, incredibly patient creatures. It’s not beneath spammers to resort to brute force methods in order to access the e-mails behind the scr.im CAPTCHAs. Only time will tell if they resort to this method.
Will it Take Off?
Will scr.im (or similar services) take off? It’s too soon to tell. There certainly is a lot of promise, however. It’s already common to see people type e-mail addresses like this: name AT emailserver DOT COM. This is clearly to cut back on spam to their accounts, which shows that people are aware of the problems involved in posting their e-mail accounts publicly.
One thing’s for sure: the simplicity and power of scr.im certainly left me impressed (I now have a scr.im address, and I’ve been using it for the past few days!) If others recognize the ease and usefulness of scr.im, then it could be one of the next internet phenomenons.
It’s now up to scr.im to prove its usefulness to the public.
