Apple’s ‘Hide My Email’ always seemed too good to be true — and this new vulnerability proves it was

(Image credit: Tom's Guide / Sanuj Bhatia)

Back when it was first revealed alongside iCloud Plus, Apple’s Hide My Email always seemed like magic as anyone could use it to avoid handing out their ‘real’ email address. However, a newly disclosed vulnerability just revealed that this privacy feature isn’t so private after all, leaving a way for attackers to completely uncover your actual email address.For those unfamiliar, Hide My Email is one of the built-in perks that comes with a paid iCloud account. Once enabled, it masks your primary email address and replaces it with a randomly generated one that ends in @icloud.com. From there, Apple makes it easy to view any emails sent to that random address as they’re automatically forwarded to your main email address.Think of Hide My Email as a fast-tracked way to get a burner email address from one of the biggest names in tech. And the best part, you don’t need one of the best iPhones to use this feature since even Android and Windows users can sign up for iCloud Plus.From signing up for newsletters to free trials, Hide My Email can be an incredibly useful feature, especially for those times when you don’t want to use your work or personal email to avoid ending up with loads of spam in your inbox.Personally, I always thought it seemed too good to be true and according to a new report from 404 Media, that just might be the case. Here’s everything you need to know about this new Hide My Email vulnerability along with some alternatives you might want to try out in the meantime until Apple finally rolls out a real patch for this major flaw.Not your standard disclosure