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This is completely ignoring the useful use cases of "disposable" emails like privacy. I have a domain that I specifically use as a catch all, so anytime I sign
by xvolter 10y ago
This is completely ignoring the useful use cases of "disposable" emails like privacy. I have a domain that I specifically use as a catch all, so anytime I sign up for a website I use the domain as the username, like news.ycombinator.com@forward.to.me.com
This helps protect me in many ways. If my email is sold or leaked, not a big issue, I can just add that specific email to a blacklist and I never need to get spam from it again. Or if I cancel and keep getting spam about rejoining, blacklisted. It makes it easy to keep my spam and newsletters to a minimal.
It has the built in advantage that I can always sign up for new trials if I want, just do thatdomain.com1@ thatdomain.com2@ and so on. Although I don't do this often, I have had to do it for various reasons.
I've hit on occasion websites that block their domain from being in the email address, likely a poorly implemented security check because their software might say anyone with a "@service.com" email is an admin or something. In that case, I enter some random crap. I never have to remember the emails, since I can just search my email history for the address the service sent the registration confirmation to.
However, the downside is privacy. I use my own domain, which contains my full name, so when I sign up to some services and want to do so without giving my name, I still rely on a disposable email service such as hidemyass.com; and I do this for many online services. I am not a believer that everything I sign up for needs to know my full name, address, and email - often services ask for this information for no reason.
So attempting to block these types of services, that have valid and useful benefits to users, simply harms your users. You can avoid spam users with a captcha, and for trail abusers you already can't do much because @gmail.com already allows for a lot of aliases to work like @googlemail.com, or user.@gmail.com or u.s.e.r@gmail.com etc, or user+whatevertheywant@gmail.com
Don't harm your users with useless validations.
- sadasd21asda 10y agoI disagree. I run a SaaS product and disposable emails are a bane to my existence. I get thousands of signups a day from people all around the world using disposable email addresses trying to milk the free tier of the product. You have no idea the lengths people will go to. If all you wanted to do was test a product out, create a real email address even if it's full of bogus details. If you won't try my product without a real address then you're a customer I don't want and don't need.
- pmoriarty 10y agoYour "free" tier isn't really free, then. As payment, you're asking for the sacrifice of your users' privacy. Some users may value your service so much or their privacy so little that they may pay up, but for the rest of us it's back to the disposable email arms race. PS: Kudos for being open and considerate enough to defend an unpopular position on here, though it's ironic that you did so using a disposable HN account.
- joshmanders 10y ago> Your "free" tier isn't really free, then. As payment, you're asking for the sacrifice of your users' privacy. Is that what asking for an email to sign in to create an account to use a service that probably doesn't work well without having an account is now, invasion of privacy? Where do we put our foots down and stop saying that everything a SaaS does is sacrificing the user's privacy... Soon we're gonna start seeing "Whoa, asking them to pay and input their credit card? You're asking for the sacrifice of your user's privacy."
- relearn 10y agoAs a business, the onus is on you to provide a service that incentivizes consumers to move up from the free tier. If your free trials are being abused, that's an issue with the way your business is structured, not how people register. You are well within your rights as a business to decline potential customers over something like this, but you need them more than they need you.
- joshmanders 10y agoI'd probably wager if they're going through the process of creating a throw away email and resigning up with it, they need the service pretty badly.
- drivingmenuts 10y agoThe problem is the assumption that I, as a tester, want to be talked at by sales. I don't. I want to test the product and yea or nay, that's it. Unless you're in a specialized industry, there are probably competitors out there and I can judge the applicability and function without the help of a salesperson.