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You could also compare email addresses to snail mail. I think email addresses have about the same level of portability as postal addresses. - Postal addresses

You could also compare email addresses to snail mail. I think email addresses have about the same level of portability as postal addresses. - Postal addresses are also used as a means of communication/verification (you can present a bill addressed to you when voting, etc) - When you move, do you expect to be able to keep using your previous postal addresses? (Perhaps there could be some benefits...) --- As others commenters have pointed out, using your own domain for email seems to be the best solution. It's like using a PO box for postal mail.

pllbnk 2y ago
That's an interesting juxtaposition. I think the core difference here is still that home address is somewhat bound to a physical location; you could have a central registry which maps the old address to the new and carry them that way but that seems awfully impractical. On the other hand, with digital services such as email a comparatively simple regulation could solve it. Of course, this might be the wrong thing to think about an email as a form of identification. Perhaps we should move to a better system altogether at least what is related to addressing.
- Leftium 2y ago
  Another way to look at is: email domains are like international country codes. For example, you can't port a US number to a Korean number. I'm sure it's technically feasible to port international phone numbers, but I don't think it will happen. Perhaps email portability is similar in this respect. I realize there isn't much portability even within an email domain, but it does exist in some forms (maybe like how phone number portability may not be available in all countries): - Very unique case, but I know a certain Google employee whose email suddenly changed from OLD@gmail.com to NEW@gmail.com in my chat history. A search for NEW@gmail.com results in emails from both addresses (both highlighted), so they are linked somehow. And emails to OLD@gmail.com are still received.
scrapheap 2y ago
> When you move, do you expect to be able to keep using your previous postal addresses? (Perhaps there could be some benefits...) In some countries you can tell the postal service that you're moving and, for set period of time, they'll forward the mail addressed to you from your old postal address to your new one. It's very useful for catching all those places you didn't remember to update your address for when moving. You can do the same with email by setting up an forwarding rule on your old email address so that it forwards on any emails it recieves to your new email address.
- Leftium 2y ago
  Yes, that's why I said email and snail mail portability are about the same. OP's question was about portability like phone numbers where you can keep using your old phone number indefinitely after "moving" to a new provider.

pllbnk 2y ago

That's an interesting juxtaposition. I think the core difference here is still that home address is somewhat bound to a physical location; you could have a central registry which maps the old address to the new and carry them that way but that seems awfully impractical. On the other hand, with digital services such as email a comparatively simple regulation could solve it. Of course, this might be the wrong thing to think about an email as a form of identification. Perhaps we should move to a better system altogether at least what is related to addressing.

Leftium 2y ago
Another way to look at is: email domains are like international country codes. For example, you can't port a US number to a Korean number. I'm sure it's technically feasible to port international phone numbers, but I don't think it will happen. Perhaps email portability is similar in this respect. I realize there isn't much portability even within an email domain, but it does exist in some forms (maybe like how phone number portability may not be available in all countries): - Very unique case, but I know a certain Google employee whose email suddenly changed from OLD@gmail.com to NEW@gmail.com in my chat history. A search for NEW@gmail.com results in emails from both addresses (both highlighted), so they are linked somehow. And emails to OLD@gmail.com are still received.

scrapheap 2y ago

> When you move, do you expect to be able to keep using your previous postal addresses? (Perhaps there could be some benefits...) In some countries you can tell the postal service that you're moving and, for set period of time, they'll forward the mail addressed to you from your old postal address to your new one. It's very useful for catching all those places you didn't remember to update your address for when moving. You can do the same with email by setting up an forwarding rule on your old email address so that it forwards on any emails it recieves to your new email address.

Leftium 2y ago
Yes, that's why I said email and snail mail portability are about the same. OP's question was about portability like phone numbers where you can keep using your old phone number indefinitely after "moving" to a new provider.