How do I decode Comcast FBL email address to unsubscribe users?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that in general you cannot easily decode such addresses because they are designed to prevent scraping. However, the original sender who set up the obfuscation should have a mapping in their database to decode.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that while you can't reverse the hash, the purpose isn't to block you, the sender, from identifying the user. Your system should correlate the hashed ID with the user's profile in your database to process the unsubscribe.
Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog shares that feedback loops provide valuable data, but decoding specific addresses is often not possible. You should focus on using the FBL data to identify and remove problematic subscribers from your list based on other identifiers you control.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that ideally, the sending software would add a custom header (unique identifier) to identify the subscriber. Using this identifier, the subscriber can be flagged as a complainer and since Comcast is sending the full header back to the sender, identifying the subscriber is straightforward.
Email marketer from Quora explains that if you're using a masked email, your system needs to track the mapping between the masked address and the actual user in your database. When a complaint comes in through the FBL, look up the user based on the masked address and unsubscribe them.
Email marketer from SparkPost Support explains that while they support FBLs, the decoding of proprietary email address masking is specific to the provider (in this case, Comcast). They suggest checking Comcast's specific FBL documentation or support for details on how they manage identifiers.
Email marketer from StackExchange suggests that the address isn't designed to be decoded externally. Focus on the system logs generated when sending the email; these will contain the mapping between the original email and the masked address, allowing for proper identification upon receiving FBL data.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that you should design your system to log the masked address alongside the user's actual email. This way, when you receive an FBL report, you can use the logged masked address to quickly find the user in your system and unsubscribe them.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that you should focus on the other data provided in the FBL report, such as user IDs or other unique identifiers you included in the original email headers. Correlate that with your database to identify the user.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that direct decoding of Comcast's FBL email addresses is generally not possible. Instead, focus on matching the FBL data with identifiers you've embedded in your email headers. These unique identifiers allow you to identify and unsubscribe the user within your system, bypassing the need to decode the Comcast address.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of List-Unsubscribe headers but does not address the decoding of Comcast-specific FBL email addresses. The focus is on implementing easy unsubscribe mechanisms to reduce complaint rates, which indirectly addresses the goal of unsubscribing users who trigger FBLs.
Expert from Email Geeks explains the one way hash is to stop 3rd parties from being able to identify the complainer, it’s not intended to stop the original sender from being able to identify and take required actions against it.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that you cannot decode the Comcast FBL email address as it’s a one way hash.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Comcast Postmaster explains that Comcast uses a proprietary feedback loop (FBL) mechanism. While they don't explicitly detail decoding the masked email, they emphasize that senders should use the information provided in the FBL data, including the obfuscated email and other headers, to identify and unsubscribe complaining users based on their internal subscriber management systems.
Documentation from RFC explains that an email feedback report (FBL) is a mechanism by which a recipient reports that a particular message is unsolicited. While it outlines the structure of such reports, it doesn't address the decoding of sender-specific obfuscated email addresses but rather focuses on the standard format of reporting.
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that while SNDS provides data about complaints, it doesn't decode third-party FBL addresses. The focus is on providing senders with data about their own sending reputation and complaint rates from Microsoft users.
Documentation from Validity (formerly Return Path) details feedback loop setup and processing. While helpful for general FBL understanding, it does not provide information on decoding Comcast-specific masked addresses. They emphasize using the data provided to identify users.