Email tracking: privacy and legal obligations
In short
For the emails you track only, Mailamber keeps the subject, recipients (never Bcc ones) and the times of opens and clicks, with a pseudonym of the IP: never the recipient’s IP in clear, browser or location. The sender remains responsible for using it lawfully: where the rules require it, inform your recipients.
Email tracking is optional, off by default, and designed to collect the bare minimum. This page explains what happens to the data and what to consider before using it.
What data does Mailamber collect?#
Only for the emails you choose to track, Mailamber’s servers store:
- the message identifier, the mailbox it is sent from, the subject and the addresses of the To and Cc recipients (never Bcc ones): they let you see the same ticks on your PC and on your phone;
- for each open or click: date and time, the link clicked with Tracking Pro, a generic type of program (for example “Gmail proxy” or “browser”) and whether the event was counted or excluded because it came from a bot or security scanner, an automatic Apple Mail open, yourself or a duplicate;
- a pseudonym of the IP address of whoever opens or clicks, computed with a secret key that stays on the server: it is used only to recognise duplicates, scanners and your own views.
We don’t record the IP address in clear, the browser (user-agent), the location or other data about the recipient’s device. Opens and clicks coming from the network you used Mailamber from in the last 24 hours are treated as yours and are not counted: to recognise them we keep, for 7 days, a pseudonym of the IPs you use the apps from. Tracking data is deleted after 12 months, or immediately if you delete your account. The body and attachments of the email never pass through our servers: the pixel and links are added by the app on your device, at the moment of sending.
From Android 1.4.0, first-open and first-click notifications reach the phone even with the app closed through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging: the notification text contains the email’s subject, the first recipient and, for clicks, the link’s domain.
Who is responsible for how tracking is used?#
The person sending the email. Mailamber provides the tool and processes tracking data on your behalf; deciding whether and when to track a message, and informing recipients where needed, is up to you. The detailed rules are in the privacy policy.
Do I have to inform recipients?#
It depends on the context and the country. In the European Union, the ePrivacy Directive and the GDPR also protect information read from the recipient’s device, and several data protection authorities treat tracking pixels like cookies, especially in marketing communications, where consent may be required. For one-to-one professional correspondence the picture is less clear-cut, but transparency is always the safest choice.
In practice:
- don’t track sensitive communications (health, employment, legal matters) or messages to private individuals who don’t expect it;
- for newsletters and campaigns, use a tool with consent management, not personal tracking;
- inform your recipients, for example with a line in your signature or in your business’s privacy notice.
What do recipients see?#
A normal email. The pixel is a transparent one-dot image, and tracked links lead to the original page after an instant redirect. On the Free plan, tracked emails include the line “Sent with Mailamber” at the bottom. Anyone who blocks remote images — as Mailamber itself does by default on the mail you receive — isn’t tracked.