Your email address is an essential part of your identity. Your email address is used to log into your accounts, change your passwords, and more. Your email is also where you may have personal communication with others.
I trust Google, Microsoft, and Apple enough to take your email security seriously. They’re incredibly secure. But there is a difference between security and privacy. These companies can not only see your email but track how you use your email and share information about you with 3rd parties.
We share your personal data with your consent or to complete any transaction or provide any product you have requested or authorized. We also share data with Microsoft-controlled affiliates and subsidiaries; with vendors working on our behalf; when required by law or to respond to legal process; to protect our customers; to protect lives; to maintain the security of our products; and to protect the rights and property of Microsoft and its customers. - Microsoft Privacy Statement
When you use your domain for your email address, you can use a dedicated email client or a service that specializes in email and is determined to take your privacy seriously. Fastmail, Protonmail, and Hey for Domains are a few I’ve tried.
Another advantage to using your domain for your email is you can easily change services or email clients without changing your email address. For example, I recently wanted to try Hey for Domains. I was using iCloud Domains. I went through the instructions to change my DNS settings for my domain, and a few minutes later, I was using Hey. A week later, I decided Hey may not be for me, and I switched to Protonmail.
The downside to switching is that you may have to leave your email history behind. Check if your email service allows you to do a full email export so you can take your email with you!
My main point to all of this is that a custom domain is a step in the right direction to take control of your email privacy.
If you have any additional email services or privacy tips, please share!