Apple will change the domain used for newly generated Hide My Email addresses, making it easier for apps and websites to identify when someone is using an email alias. Later this summer, new addresses created through Hide My Email and Sign in with Apple will use the @private.icloud.com domain.
The change will not affect aliases that users have already created. Apple said existing addresses will continue receiving and forwarding messages without interruption.
New Domain Separates Private Email Addresses
Hide My Email is included with Apple’s paid iCloud+ subscriptions. It generates a unique email address that forwards incoming messages to the user’s personal inbox, allowing people to create accounts without sharing their actual address.
New Hide My Email aliases currently use @icloud.com, the same domain used by regular Apple email accounts. This makes it difficult for a website to determine whether an address belongs to a standard iCloud Mail user or was generated as an alias.
Moving new aliases to @private.icloud.com removes that ambiguity. Apps and websites will be able to identify the addresses by their domain and could decide to reject them during registration.
Apple said the change will unify the domains used by Hide My Email and Sign in with Apple. The company outlined the transition in an official developer notice.
Developers Must Update Email Systems
Apple advised developers, app operators, and email providers to update their systems to recognize the new domain. Services that use domain filters or approved sender lists may need changes to ensure that verification messages, receipts, and account notifications continue reaching users.
The company did not publicly explain why it was changing the domain. Several users criticized the decision on Reddit, arguing that websites could use the identifiable domain to prevent them from creating accounts with private aliases.
Apple’s Hide My Email support page says users can create, manage, and deactivate aliases through iCloud settings. Messages sent to those addresses are forwarded to the inbox selected by the user.
Feature Does Not Hide Identities From Apple
Hide My Email prevents apps and websites from directly seeing a user’s personal address, but Apple can still connect an alias to the account that created it. Court records reported earlier in 2026 showed that Apple provided federal investigators with account information linked to an alias used to send an allegedly threatening message.
The records were requested during an FBI investigation involving Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel. Apple supplied the account holder’s identifying information and records connected to other aliases created through the same account.
Featured image credits: Farid Iqbal Ibrahim via Flickr
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