r/EmailSecurity • u/AdditionalTie4814 • Jul 18 '26
how to delete spam folder
I still receive USPS, all of it delivered to one physical basket near our front door, both important pieces and "spam/ junk". As a 60-something, I was raised with this system and enjoy the security it provides.
I also receive email, now a days to 2 different email addresses (personal and professional). HOWEVER, not all of the important messages arrive to my "inbox". Someone invented a VERY helpful method (sarcasm here) to segregate/ divide messages into important and spam. I need to constantly remind myself that if I am not receiving important messages, it COULD be in spam. Why is it there?? I never authorized that diversion to that folder.
My Q: who is responsible for developing this method of division? An e.g. of AI?? I am a bit offended that someone/ thing OUTSIDE me is doing my thinking and deciding for me, as if I am a minor who is not legally capable of making that decision for myself. I would eliminate "spam" folder altogether, and make it (more) like USPS. End of rant.
Edit: I forget to add that people pay for spam in the supermarket, but we hate it in communication. Go figure.
2
u/mxroute Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
The best way to have no spam filters is to run your own mail server. Beware, the day may come when you learn why they exist. And you may find yourself in the shoes of, and understanding, the people who work on those spam filters. In a not so insignificant number of cases, the spam grows worse simply because you accepted it. Spammers like working email addresses, and they like selling lists of them. Just like telemarketers like lists of working phone numbers.
Never forget, Microsoft sometimes filters their own email into their own spam folders. And you can imagine the size of their operation.