EMail Parrot

What is an Email Reflector and why would I need one?

An Anonymizing Email Reflector is an email service that allows for the sending of email within a group while hiding information about the original sender of the email. This is useful when a group of people wish to communicate via email but there isn't a high level of trust between the members. This lack of trust in how one's information will be used, or abused, is a barrier to such groups gaining members.

The larger the group, the greater the risk that a member will misuse the email addresses and other information of participants in the group. This misuse can lead to increased SPAM, phishing attacks, and unwanted solicitations. In rarer cases it can be an access path for identity theft. So you can see why people don't want to participate in email groups where this can happen.

Many organizations need online group interaction and communication and email is the most ubiquitous form of online presence. Volunteer groups, PTAs, HOAs, extended families, and many other groups can benefit from using an anonymizing email reflector. BCC'ing members is commonplace but this doesn't allow for group discussion or participation. Private email servers can be established for each group and new addresses created for each member but this is complex, expensive, and no one checks these additional addresses frequently. An email reflector can solve these issues but until now required establishing a server with the associated costs.

A new cloud-based service is now available that provides the functionality of an email reflector but on a low-cost, low-overhead model. EMail Parrot, https://emparrot.com, is a semi-anonymizing email reflector service. My extended family and my HOA use this service to provide group email communications while ensuring online privacy.

I've found that when organizing broad groups by email it is critical that everyone feels secure in giving out their email address. Increased SPAM, phishing attacks, and unwanted solicitations can kill participation and doom collaborative success. Is your group facing these issues?