What is the one piece of information that many if not most of your digital accounts hinge upon? You and I would likely come unhinged if we were told we had to suddenly change it. It’s why so many still use aol.com.
Your email address is floating around cyberspace more than you realize. Most digital accounts use email as the login preference. Whenever you buy something online, you receive not only an email confirmation but updates on tracking and delivery also. And even if you opt out, the barrage of marketing emails that ensue once you receive your order will continue relentlessly until you unsubscribe. The same is true for most digital purchasing including your credit cards, airline and hotel perks and ticket or tour purchases.
If you have numerous digital accounts, your email address has likely been compromised in a data breach. Mine has been 11 times the last time a year ago. The latest data breach is an unprotected online database that exposed over 184 million records including email addresses, passwords and login links, stored in plain text. The leaked data is tied to the major platforms of Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and government and financial services.
Most financial institutions restrict using an email address as a login and require verification to transact money. However, some of the newer trading platforms allow it but in addition to your account password, you’re required to set-up a trading password or an authentication app like VIP Access, to even access your account.
A few weeks ago, I wrote how to handle wily texts. Email is the elephant in the room because it is more nuanced. When done correctly, email remains a great way to communicate even as an introduction because the expectation or protocol isn’t an immediate response unlike texting where it’s more personal, conversational and intrusive if unsolicited.
It becomes complex when you have multiple email addresses. Most have a professional and a personal one. Back in 2020, Forbes recommended having 4 email addresses (professional, personal, online shopping, government/official correspondence). This isn’t necessary and would be difficult to manage without any AI assistance.
Until AI can handle 80% of your email, you can mitigate your email exposure using different logins, unique strong passwords stored in a password keeper and two-factor or other types of authentication. You can also teach the email algorithm to better identify junk email by moving them to the Junk folder so that it learns to recognize patterns and features that distinguish spam from legitimate emails instead of deleting them directly from your Inbox.
Email becomes even more complex if you are an “Inbox Zero” or “Inbox Infinity” person. And it is possible to be married to someone who is a 180 degree opposite. I prefer to use email as a database searching for what I need or who to respond to and unsubscribing, filtering and deleting when I have time ignoring the rest.
Especially after we moved, I would keep emails from retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBB) to search for discounts and digital coupons when needed. However, BBB got to the e-commerce market too late. So much predicated on their physically mailed coupons that worked beautifully to get us into the store to feel all those pillowcases displayed finding that particular one so we could have that luxurious, restful hotel experience at home for a reasonable price. But then you could find comparable bedding at Target and then just order it online.
In person shopping, however, is not dead and continues to be resilient. The was evident over the holiday weekend where I have never seen lines as long as they were at the grocery store eclipsing both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday surge. The small complex of Premium Outlet stores across the border into rural Wisconsin I had never experienced at full capacity with no parking and lines out the doors in the short time we were there.
But in-store shopping is changing. In order to get the deals, you often need to have the store app and know how to use it. Jewel-Osco (Albertsons) now requires digital coupons on almost all of the seasonal fruit. The display sign shows the digital deal price but you need to have the app and have “clipped” the digital coupon which can be confusing on how to access. Since my husband rarely goes grocery shopping now, he didn’t know how this worked as many in the checkout line didn’t either. If you don’t have the app, didn’t tap the digital coupon or enter your phone number tied to the app, you will end up paying 10 – 20% more for groceries. Unless you go to stores like Aldi’s or Trader Joes where prices are lower but so is the selection and it becomes far more time-consuming.
A new Wild Fork Foods store recently opened near me. It is impressive not only in their selection of meats, but also in cost. I call it the grocery store for men. Both my husband and brother who was visiting thought it was great.
PetSmart is another example. My online order from Chewy (owned by PetSmart) was delayed so I had to go to the store. Certain shelves were low on supply similar to the grocery store where they had been too busy to even stock them. Again, someone in front of me needed help accessing the app to get the discounts. In my experience, the store personnel are always willing to help but you need to ask. Even though it cost me to make the trip, I used points and a $20 coupon to get me in the store. Target, Walmart, McDonalds and Starbucks are more examples of retailers using their apps for discounts and push notifications.
With so much of our digital presence hinged upon our email address or phone number, the prevalence of this requirement will only increase. We have to become better at navigating these channels with the tools available to us and accept this as a reality rather than something to avoid which has become more costly. If you know someone who doesn’t know about this or may need assistance setting this up like your parents, pay it forward and help them.
GMass: Top 100 domains that receive email
Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email address has been exposed in a data breach
What Went Wrong at Bed Bath & Beyond – Knowledge at Wharton
Memorial Day 2025 Consumer Traffic Recap – Placer.ai Blog
A closer look at Grocery Outlet’s unique shopping app | Grocery Dive
Featured Image – Chicago skyline from an Architecture boat tour that I took my brother on