Apple’s Hide My Email function serves as a handy privacy tool, utilizing temporary addresses to conceal a user’s actual email to maintain online anonymity. Sadly, recent investigations suggest that a flaw in this feature enables the exposure of users’ real email addresses.

The flaw was highlighted by 404 Media, which states that it has tested and confirmed the existence of the vulnerability. Tyler Murphy, the researcher who identified the flaw, mentioned that he alerted Apple about the issue over a year ago and is puzzled as to why the company has not resolved it yet. Murphy also noted that all attempts to exploit the flaw have been successful.

“The complete extent of the problem is unclear, but in our limited trials with volunteers, 100% of Hide My Email addresses were vulnerable,” Murphy informed the outlet. The specifics of the flaw have not been publicly revealed, due to concerns it may be misused.

Murphy is a co-founder of EasyOptOuts, which provides a paid data-removal service that eliminates your information from data broker platforms. He informed 404 Media that “publicly available people-search websites facilitate the connection of an email address to other personal information, so individuals depending on Hide My Email for protection may be in danger.”

TechCrunch contacted Apple for additional details and will revise this article if there is a response.

In the realm of technology, privacy tools are scarce and, regretfully, even when available, they do not always function as intended. Apple has faced similar accusations in the past.

For instance, the company was sued in 2022 after reports revealed that iPhone applications continued to transmit analytics data to Apple even with the iPhone Analytics privacy setting enabled.

Likewise, in 2023, researchers discovered another of Apple’s privacy features to be effectively “ineffective.” The study asserted that a tool designed to anonymize mobile users’ Wi-Fi connections by generating randomized MAC addresses (which are easily traceable identifiers) was merely revealing the user’s actual MAC address.

Apple has largely built its reputation and branding around user privacy, so it is to be hoped that the apparent Hide My Email bug is addressed promptly. If it can find ways to better support its privacy commitments, that would also be a positive development.