I had some old lycos accounts but after they deleted those accounts without warning to switch to a pay per account system I wouldnt trust them with a paid account either.
I really havent tried much else in 20+ years, how about you?
“Free” means YOU are paying with YOUR INFO
proton mail
https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-email-accounts-1356641 , do some searches
Nothing is hidden. Dont think for a moment anything online is secure.
I use proton. It doesn’t work with my outlook mail on desktop.
Not impressed
I’ve had the same yahoo email for over 20 years now... never had an issue
Protonmail?
Just assume that nothing is safe, and don’t ever write anything online anywhere that you would not be willing to shout from a soapbox downtown Square
Protonmail is encrypted and there is a first-tier free version.
They cannot scan your email because they don’t have the key.
I have been using it for a few years, gradually moving my email addresses from yahoo and gmail to protonmail.
I think I am going to complete the switchover ASAP.
How to configure your email client for Proton Mail Bridge
https://proton.me/support/protonmail-bridge-configure-client
Protonmail
I have used GMX for years. Free, Good interface, minimal ads mostly on the home page, full HTML support, some writing tools, some storage. As for privacy, l don’t know.
Another vote for protonmail. There are no ads.
In yahoo I have to navigate around recipes and other unwanted advertisements.
If you need anonymity, I suggest a throwaway account like mailinator.com where you can use it when you have to fill out forms that you don’t want to have your normal email address bedause you know they Wil, spam your account.
You pick any name you want, like say kangaroo@mailinator.com, or picklepuke@mailinator.com, whatever you wish, fill out the form where some company requests your email, then go to picklepuke@mailinator.com and you will see the email from the company in the inbox there. You don’t need to sign up either.
They keep the emails for I think 3 days or so, then they autodelete them or you can do so yourself.
From then on, all the spam that the company you had to fill out a form for goes to the mailinator account, not your regular email
You’re better off paying a small amount for an account. If it’s ‘free’ you’re paying in other ways.
Apply for a domain and set up your own server. It’s easy with an old computer.
My cell phone battery went dead. My phone was erratic. I had SIM card problems because of corrosion here in Florida.
I bought a new SIM card and had to change my phone number.
Google wanted me to confirm using my old phone number.
Eventually Google let me use a previous cell phone and Wi-Fi to confirm.
I reset my newer phone and I am not putting Google contact information back on it.
I often use library computers due to their faster internet and cell phone data limits. Google doesn’t like me switching around. I don’t like to carry my cell phone when leaving the house because I don’t expect to need to use it.
If you want control, privacy, and security, go to some place like namecheap.com, get a domain like yourlastname.email, sign up for their email service on that domain.
This will be your own email that you control, no one else can read your email (unlike gmail and everyone else that reads your stuff), because you PAY for the service. It is yours. You own that domain name. Right now, namecheap.com has a year of email for $30. Domain names usually around $13 a year or less.
For instance, gnarledmaw.email, right now is $4.98 a year. Email on that domain will run $30 a year for three email boxes, 30GB of storage and mobile device access. OR, $48 a year for 5 email boxes and 75GB of storage plus other goodies. Those mail boxes mean 3 or 5 people, such as Jim@yourlastname.emil and Mary@yourlastname.emil.
This is more than some people can do technically, but it isn’t all that difficult and you can own your email address forever and have privacy and security.
Just another options some people might want to look at instead of going to email services like proton or gmail.