| Information about MailStart! |
What is MailStart?
Since June of 1997 MailStart has been serving the Internet community their email. Unlike other email services out there, no sign up is required to use MailStart. By using standards agreed upon by the Internet community MailStart is able to provide you with access to your current email account with only your email address and password.
If I don't sign up, how does it work?
The MailStart service has been created to provide you with access to any pre-existing email account(s). By entering your email address in the standard format, user@domain.com, MailStart is able to determine where your mail server is located. Next, using your password, MailStart is able to contact your server and convert the current contents of your mailbox into a format accessible by your browser.
Why do I have to give you my email password?
In order to access the contents of your email account MailStart needs to present your mail server with your password. MailStart has a strict privacy policy in place which explains in detail what we do with all the information that passes through our system. You can rest assured we do not do anything malicious with the data passing through our system. For information about our Privacy policy, please click here.
When I submit the form my browser says, the data being sent is not encrypted. How can I be sure my email address and password wont be intercepted?
Unfortunately the standard email protocol, POP3, demands that all communication with a mail server be done in a non encrypted fashion. This means that whenever we check our mail, either with MailStart or some other email client, we put ourselves at risk that someone may intercept our private email data. The only true way of being secure, aside from not using email, is to not use standard Internet mail protocols. Some services, such as AOL, MSN, AT&T etc have chosen this route. While it may be true that your email data might be safer this way, such systems will not work with standard email clients, such as MailStart, and thus will limit the ways in which you can retrieve your mail.
I have seen sites with encryption, why don't you use it?
The inherent insecurity of the POP3 protocol leaves a hole in any encrypted transaction between the MailStart service and your browser. Although the connection between our computers and your browser would be protected, the POP3 protocol demands that our computers communicate with your mail server in a non encrypted way. Since this would create 1 break in the encrypted transaction there is no reason to provide encryption. To provide you with encryption would only give you an illusion of safety, as the communication with your mail server must be done non encrypted.
Where can I get more information about MailStart?
We have set up many pages to help you get acquainted and secure with using our service. Below is a list of links to different topics of interest.
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