I asked ChatGPT for the source and any other information it could gather. Here is its response in two sessions.
The article titled "Apple's Hide My Email Feature Reportedly Leaks Your Actual Email" was published by BleepingComputer. It was published on July 24, 2026. The article discusses reports that, under certain circumstances, Apple's Hide My Email feature may expose a user's real email address instead of the randomized relay address that the feature is designed to provide. The report focuses on a specific implementation issue rather than suggesting that the entire Hide My Email service is fundamentally broken. If you're interested, I can also summarize: * what the reported vulnerability was, * which users or services were affected, * whether Apple has acknowledged or fixed the issue, and * practical steps you can take to protect yourself if you use Hide My Email. I asked for the summary: Certainly. Here's a summary of the reported issue and its implications. What the reported vulnerability was According to the report, a flaw in the way some websites or services handled Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email could result in a user's real email address being exposed instead of the unique relay address (the one ending in @privaterelay.appleid.com). The concern was not that Apple's relay system itself had been broadly compromised. Rather, the issue involved situations where a service that should have continued using the relay address instead obtained or displayed the user's actual email address. Who was affected The report indicated that the issue affected only certain situations and implementations. It was not a universal problem for everyone using Hide My Email. Potentially affected users were those who: * Used Sign in with Apple and chose Hide My Email. * Used websites or apps whose implementation triggered the reported behavior. Users who never used Hide My Email would not be affected by this particular issue. Did Apple acknowledge or fix it? At the time of the report: * The issue had been reported to Apple. * Apple was investigating the claims. * There was no indication that Apple's entire Hide My Email infrastructure had failed. * Any fix, if needed, would likely be implemented by Apple or by the affected service, depending on the root cause. If Apple later released a software or server-side fix, it would typically not require users to change their existing Hide My Email addresses. Should you be worried? For most users, the risk appeared to be limited. Even if your real email address became visible to a website: * Your Apple ID password was not exposed. * Your iCloud account was not compromised. * Your email messages were not leaked. * The primary loss was privacy—a website that was supposed to know only your relay address might instead learn your actual email address. What you can do If you use Hide My Email, you can reduce your risk by: * Keeping your Apple devices updated with the latest software. * Reviewing the apps and websites that use Sign in with Apple by going to Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Sign in with Apple (the exact path may vary slightly by iOS version). * If you suspect a particular relay address has been exposed or abused, you can deactivate that Hide My Email address and create a new one for future use. * Monitoring your primary email account for unexpected messages that could indicate a site has learned your real address. Overall, the report described a privacy issue affecting certain scenarios, not a widespread breach of Apple accounts or a failure of the Hide My Email service as a whole. Richard, USA, The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." -- Alan Watts (1915-1973) My web site: https://www.turner42.com <https://www.turner42.com/> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of janet gross Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2026 1:22 PM To: 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone <[email protected]> Subject: Apple's Hide My Email Feature Reportedly Leaks Your Actual Email IDs! Hello Everyone, I’m once again, catching up on news, and I came across this short article, I thought some of you might be interested in knowing this. I copied and pasted it below. Apple's Hide My Email Feature Reportedly Leaks Your Actual Email IDs Apple has been investigating the bug since June last year, while the feature continues to expose the real email IDs it is supposed to protect, 404 Media reports. By Jibin Joseph July 2, 2026 Apple Mail app logo as seen on an iPhone (Credit: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images) A bug in Apple’s Hide My Email feature reportedly lets hackers uncover the very thing it is meant to protect: your real email address. The bug was discovered by a researcher named Tyler Murphy, who reported the issue to Apple in June 2025, 404 Media reports. Apple responded the following month and confirmed the bug was fixed in March 2026. However, when Murphy ran tests once again, he noticed that the feature was still leaking real email IDs. Apple’s Hide My Email is a privacy feature that comes bundled with an iCloud+ subscription, which starts at $0.99 a month. Every time you log in to a new website or app, the feature lets you provide the service a dummy email that forwards to your real email address. This way, you can use an app or website without sharing your email with them. For now, these emails use a random word-text combo and the @icloud.com domain. Later this summer, both “Sign in with Apple” and Hide My Email will use the private.icloud.com domain, Apple announced last month. As of May, Apple is still investigating the “Hide My Email” bug and has asked Murphy not to disclose the vulnerability to avoid further risk to its customers, 404 Media says. When Murphy suggested pausing the feature until a fix rolls out, Apple said the patch was “expected in the coming weeks.” Meanwhile, Hide My Email addresses generated by 404 Media on Monday were also found by Murphy to leak the real email addresses they were supposed to hide. As of May, Apple is still investigating the “Hide My Email” bug and has asked Murphy not to disclose the vulnerability to avoid further risk to its customers, 404 Media says. When Murphy suggested pausing the feature until a fix rolls out, Apple said the patch was “expected in the coming weeks.” Meanwhile, Hide My Email addresses generated by 404 Media on Monday were also found by Murphy to leak the real email addresses they were supposed to hide. https://www.pcmag.com/news/apples-hide-my-email-feature-reportedly-leaks-your-actual-email-ids Kindly, Janet. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/IA4P223MB1595087796216AC9CDBFB967FCCD2%40IA4P223MB1595.NAMP223.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/IA4P223MB1595087796216AC9CDBFB967FCCD2%40IA4P223MB1595.NAMP223.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/00a301dd1d3e%2423879990%246a96ccb0%24%40comcast.net.
