Temporary emails expire
Inboxes last 3 hours by default. Each renewal adds 3 hours, up to a maximum of 24 hours. When an inbox expires, its address and emails are deleted and can’t be recovered using a recovery link.
See retention periodsRELAY / Privacy
Addresses expire,
so let’s be clear about how data is handled.
No sign-up doesn’t mean no data processing. This notice covers temporary inboxes and the alias forwarding service available after you log in, so you can decide what to share with us—and what to keep to yourself.
A link can grant access
Temporary inboxes use an access credential instead of an account. Anyone with a valid recovery credential may be able to read the emails, so protect it like a verification code.
About recovery credentialsForwarding uses your real email
Code verification and email forwarding require us to process your login email address. Forwarded emails are archived for 30 days. Logging out doesn’t delete aliases or stop forwarding.
Understand deletion vs. logoutThis service helps keep your real email address from being directly exposed to shopping sites. It does not promise untraceability, complete anonymity, or suitability for sensitive information. Shopping sites, email senders, and your network may each process related data.
01 / Data flows
We explain
what we handle.
These three related flows involve different data and use different access credentials.
Address → inbox → your browser
To display emails during the inbox’s lifetime, we must receive and store the generated temporary address, inbox access credential, expiry time, and the sender, recipient, subject, date, message body, and any available attachments.
Instant access means you don’t need to create an account first. It doesn’t mean emails bypass our servers or that senders can’t see you’re using a temporary address. Don’t use short-term inboxes for payments, identity documents, or important accounts you may need to recover later.
Review the signup checklist firstReal email → login code → login credential
When you choose email forwarding, we process the real email address you provide, the result of code verification, and the account and security records needed to complete login. Verification codes are sent in the language selected on the current page.
If you enable two-step verification, we also process authenticator setup details and one-time code checks. Your login email proves access and receives forwarded messages; logging out of your browser doesn’t automatically delete it from our servers.
Visit the forwarding servicePublic alias → forwarding → real email
We process the link between your alias and login email, the alias’s active or inactive status, incoming email content, and delivery records, including successful, blocked, failed, and pending messages. Forwarding sends emails to your destination email provider, which handles them under its own rules.
An alias hides your real email from the shopping site you give it to. It doesn’t hide your forwarding destination from Relayonce. Before disabling or deleting an alias, update the recovery email on your shopping account to avoid missing future verification codes.
Compare temporary and long-term emailService operations also require certain records
To deliver email, apply rate limits, troubleshoot issues, and prevent abuse, our infrastructure may process necessary operational records such as request times, network addresses, delivery results, and errors. The specific fields and retention periods depend on the deployment, security needs, and applicable laws. An address expiring doesn’t mean every system record is erased at that exact moment.
02 / Retention periods
Email retentionand system records are separate.
Below, we distinguish confirmed product behavior from records handled according to configuration. Credentials saved in your browser, Relayonce archives, and copies delivered to other inboxes do not share a single countdown.
Temporary inbox
3 h
Default lifetime. Each renewal adds 3 hours, up to a maximum of 24 hours.
Forwarded email archive
30 days
Stored separately from temporary emails; manage records in the dashboard.
Login credential
7 days
Default validity period; actual validity depends on issuance and verification by the service.
| Data type | Retention and handling limits | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary address and inbox emails | 3 hours by default. Renew before expiry to extend up to 24 hours. After expiry, the address and emails are deleted and can’t be recovered. Check the live countdown in your inbox. | Delete individual emails while the inbox is active, or get a new address to invalidate the old inbox. Save anything important somewhere you trust before it expires. |
| Forwarded email archive | Archived for 30 days. This isn’t a permanent backup. Deleting a record in Relayonce won’t remove copies already forwarded to your destination inbox. | View and delete archived emails in the dashboard. Manage messages in your destination inbox separately. |
| Aliases and forwarding rules | Long-term forwarding doesn’t expire with a temporary inbox. Incoming mail is handled according to the alias’s current status until it’s disabled or deleted. | Disable an alias to stop future forwarding. Before deleting one, update the contact email on any shopping accounts that use it. |
| Login credentials and local state | Login credentials are valid for 7 days by default; the actual period depends on server configuration and issuance. Local state may remain until you log out, clear your browser data, or the site updates. | Log out on shared devices and clear site data if needed. Clearing local state doesn’t delete your server-side account. |
| Login, security, and operational records | Records needed to verify codes, troubleshoot delivery, apply rate limits, and maintain security are handled according to actual configuration, operational needs, and applicable laws—not the 3-hour temporary inbox lifetime. | To ask about specific records related to you or request action, contact support. Don’t include verification codes or full access credentials in your request. |
The 30-day archive applies only to forwarding; temporary emails aren’t stored for 30 days. For details on renewals, expiry, and accessing your inbox on another device, see the expiry and recovery guide.
03 / Access credentials
The address itself
can’t restore your inbox.
Your email address receives messages; your recovery credential grants permission to read them. Don’t confuse the two.
On this device
Saved in your browser
Temporary inbox details are stored locally in your browser so you can keep accessing the inbox after refreshing. Your current reading position may be remembered during the session.
On another device
Recovery link contains a credential
You may be able to restore the same inbox, as long as it hasn’t expired, by opening its unique link with a valid access credential on another device.
Server verification
Expired inboxes can’t be restored
Clearing browser data may remove local access to the inbox. Keeping an old link won’t bypass inbox expiry and deletion.
Treat a recovery link like a key
Anyone with a valid recovery credential may be able to access your emails, including verification codes and order details. Don’t share the link in group chats, screenshots, public support tickets, code repositories, or online link-checking tools.
- Open recovery links only on devices you trust. Don’t save them on public computers.
- When asking for help, describe when the issue happened and what you did. Don’t send the full recovery link or login credential.
- If a link may have been exposed, save anything you need first, then get a new address. The old address and its emails will be deleted.
Long-term forwarding credentials and temporary inbox credentials are stored separately in your browser and serve different purposes. Logging out of forwarding won’t automatically delete a temporary inbox. Clearing browser site data won’t automatically stop aliases already forwarding on our servers.
04 / Third-party content
Displaying an email
doesn’t make it trustworthy.
Senders control what their emails say. We display messages, but don’t endorse external links, attachments, or a sender’s identity.
Remote images can trigger extra requests
Emails may include images hosted on the sender’s or a third party’s server. If remote content loads, the server may receive information such as the request time and network address, and may use it to tell whether the email was opened.
If an unfamiliar sender asks you to load an image, log in, or verify your details again, check the source first. Even if external content is restricted, don’t treat that as a guarantee against tracking.
Isolation and sanitization reduce risk, but can’t eliminate it
Email HTML is displayed in an isolated reading environment, and message sanitization removes content that shouldn’t run directly. These measures limit the impact email content can have on the site, but can’t guarantee detection of every phishing attempt, misleading message, or malicious file.
Plain text that looks normal doesn’t prove a sender is trustworthy. If you receive an unexpected verification code or order notice, open the shopping site’s official app or a URL you already know and check there. Don’t trust urgent demands in an email at face value.
Clicking links and downloading attachments involves separate data handling
When you open an external link, the destination site handles your visit under its own rules. Downloaded attachments may also contain unsafe content. Relayonce can’t control what external sites collect or retrieve information you’ve already shared with them.
Don’t paste verification codes, full order details, inbox recovery links, or login credentials into unfamiliar pages. If you’re troubleshooting a missing code, follow the verification code troubleshooting steps to check the address and expiry instead of giving a third-party tool access to your entire inbox.
05 / Your actions and requests
Delete, disable, and log outeach do different things.
Choose the right action, then check its impact. Deleting a record from our service doesn’t delete copies held by the sender, recipient, or other devices.
Delete an email / Get a new address
Deleting an email removes that message from the current inbox. Getting a new address creates a new inbox and deletes the old address and its emails. You can’t use the old link to undo the change.
These actions don’t delete your shopping site account or cancel orders or coupon registrations you’ve already submitted.
Manage temporary inboxDisable / Delete an alias
Disabling an alias stops future forwarding; deleting one removes that forwarding address. Neither action can recall messages already delivered to your real inbox.
Deleting an alias doesn’t automatically delete existing forwarding archives or your login account. To clear archived messages, delete them separately in the dashboard.
Manage forwardingLog out / Clear local data
Logging out clears the forwarding login credential and email address saved in this browser. It doesn’t delete your account, disable aliases, or log you out on other devices.
Clearing site data may also remove local access to temporary inboxes. When you finish using a shared device, log out and check for saved recovery links or downloaded files.
Review credential detailsContact support
Write to us if you can’t resolve a data issue yourself.
To ask about, access, correct, or delete data related to you, or if you have questions about this notice, email support@relayonce.com. Say whether your request concerns temporary email or long-term forwarding, roughly when the issue occurred, and what you’d like us to do.
To prevent others from claiming your emails or account, we may need to verify that you control the relevant email address or account. Don’t send verification codes, authenticator keys, full recovery links, or unrelated sensitive emails. We’ll assess requests using information we can verify, technical feasibility, and applicable laws.
We may be limited in handling data that must be retained by law, is needed for security troubleshooting, or has been independently stored by a third party. If so, we’ll explain the limits that apply rather than promise to delete every copy immediately. For the limits on using the service, see the separate Terms of Service.
We may update this notice as product features and data handling change. Check the last-updated date at the top to identify the current version. Before using the service again—especially before submitting order details or setting up long-term forwarding—we recommend reviewing the relevant retention periods and access limits.