Temp-Mail.im Privacy Policy

1. Our Core Philosophy: Privacy by Architecture

At Temp-Mail.im, digital privacy is not a marketing buzzword—it is the foundational architecture upon which our entire service is engineered. We believe that receiving an email confirmation, accessing a software trial, or downloading a research whitepaper should never require surrendering your personal identity.

Our systems operate on a strict Zero-Knowledge Principle. This means we design our servers and codebases in such a manner that we cannot inspect, monetize, or reconstruct user identities even if requested, because the underlying relational data simply does not exist.

2. What Information We Do NOT Collect

To eliminate any ambiguity regarding data retention, here is an explicit breakdown of the data points we do NOT collect, store, or log:

• No Personal Identifiers: We do not ask for your real name, physical address, phone number, recovery email, or date of birth.
• No User Account Credentials: There are no user profiles, account registration forms, or stored passwords.
• No Relational IP Address Logging: We do not maintain relational database logs binding your physical IP address or device fingerprint to specific generated temporary mailboxes.
• No Payment or Financial Data: Temp-Mail.im is 100% free; we never request billing details or credit card information.
• No Cross-Site Behavioral Tracking: We do not track your browsing activities across third-party websites or construct advertising profiles.

3. The Ephemeral Mailbox Lifecycle & Automated 24-Hour Purge

When you visit Temp-Mail.im, an active mailbox token is instantiated for your immediate session. The lifecycle of this mailbox adheres to rigorous ephemerality standards:

1. Inbound Reception: Incoming emails, verification links, OTP codes, and attachments are received by our mail transfer agents and held in volatile, encrypted server memory.
2. Real-Time Client Push: Messages are streamed directly to your active browser tab via secure WebSockets.
3. Permanent Destruction: After 24 hours from creation, or immediately when you click the Delete button, all message contents, header metadata, and cached attachments are completely and irrecoverably destroyed. Once purged, no backup copies exist anywhere on our infrastructure.

4. Anti-Tracking, Web Beacon & Malicious Script Sandboxing

Commercial marketing emails frequently contain invisible 1x1 tracking pixels (web beacons) designed to harvest your device model, approximate location, and read timestamps.

Temp-Mail.im processes incoming HTML emails through an isolated Sanitization Sandbox that:

• Blocks automatic external image requests and tracking beacons by default.
• Neutralizes embedded JavaScript, malicious iframes, and automated phishing redirects.
• Strips executable attachment payloads (.exe, .vbs, .scr) to protect your local device from malware infection.

5. Browser Local Storage vs. Tracking Cookies

Temp-Mail.im does NOT use third-party advertising cookies or cross-domain tracking pixels. We utilize standard HTML5 localStorage solely on your local device to deliver essential core functionality:

• Active Mailbox Persistence: To keep your current session address active when you navigate between pages on our website.
• Theme Preference: To remember whether you selected Day (Light) or Night (Dark) mode.
• Encrypted Device History Vault: To allow you to revisit recent temporary addresses locally. This history is stored strictly on your physical device and is never synchronized to a centralized user database.

You can clear this local data at any time by clearing your browser cache or clicking the Clear History button inside the mailbox drawer.

6. Encryption Standards & Data in Transit

All communications between your web browser and our edge servers are encrypted using modern Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / SSL) with strong cryptographic cipher suites. This ensures that unauthorized third parties, internet service providers (ISPs), or network eavesdroppers on public Wi-Fi networks cannot intercept or inspect your session.

7. Third-Party Disclosure & Zero Data Monetization

We do not sell, rent, lease, or monetize temporary email addresses, received message bodies, or user traffic to commercial data brokers, advertising networks, or analytics aggregators. Temp-Mail.im exists solely as an independent privacy utility funded by unobtrusive, privacy-friendly contextual sponsorships.

8. Global Privacy Rights (GDPR, CCPA & Worldwide Protections)

Because Temp-Mail.im adheres to privacy-by-design principles and does not collect personally identifiable information (PII), we inherently fulfill the core privacy objectives of global data protection regulations, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Handled automatically through our 24-hour self-destruct mechanism and one-click manual deletion.
• Data Minimization: We collect only the absolute technical minimum required to deliver incoming SMTP packets to your active session.
• Zero Profiling: We engage in zero automated profiling or behavioral scoring.

9. Policy Updates & Inquiries

We may periodically review and refine this Privacy Policy to reflect technical infrastructure improvements or emerging privacy standards. Any updates will be reflected on this page with a revised timestamp.

If you have questions, feedback, or security inquiries regarding our privacy practices, please contact our privacy engineering team directly at support@temp-mail.im or through our Contact Page.