Methodology

How addresses are given out

A source is anything that asks for an email address: a shop, a newsletter, an online publication, a service. Each source is given its own unique address, and that address is not used anywhere else.

What "not opted in" means

Handing over an address is not the same as agreeing to every message that follows. For that reason mailstats counts all mail received at a source's address as not opted in. This is a counting definition used on this site, not a legal assertion.

Messages received

Every message that arrives at a source's address is counted, except messages manually excluded (for example, a receipt for something actually purchased). Only counts, dates and sender domains are published. Message bodies, subjects and addresses are not.

"Leaked or sold"

A source is marked leaked or sold when the address given only to that source has received mail from a sender domain that does not belong to that source. The sender domain is taken from the From: header of the message, and subdomains match their parent domain. Each sender domain is classified as the source's own or unrelated by hand, one source at a time. Only domains confirmed as unrelated are counted and listed.

This is a rule-based category describing observed mail. It does not state why or how the mail arrived.

Score and ranking

Sources are ranked by score: messages received + 25 × unrelated sender domains, over all time. The per-month figure is messages received divided by months since the address was given. Source pages also show the last 30 days.

Sources shown

A source appears here only after it has been reviewed and published.