Is it possible to validate email addresses based on open activity from other senders?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailToolTester responds that knowing with certainty if someone is active on other senders' lists is impossible and that they promote focusing on your own sending practices and engagement metrics.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that while technically possible through data sharing and fingerprinting, it's intrusive and goes against privacy safeguards.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Experian has a 'co-op' called Email Insights where you add your list to the database and can get the most recent open, click, and frequency of clicks and opens. You can only get emails you put in, so its not directly sharing emails.
Email marketer from Quora answers that it's almost impossible to validate email addresses based on open activity from other senders. They emphasize the importance of getting explicit consent and managing your own sender reputation.
Email marketer from Reddit answers that there are no reliable and ethical ways to validate email addresses based on open activity from other senders. They suggest focusing on list hygiene best practices like double opt-in and regular cleaning.
Email marketer from MailerCheck answers that checking if an email is actively opening messages from other senders is not a typical email verification method. They focus on syntax checks, domain validation, and spam trap detection as reliable methods.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that what the client is asking for is impossible, as email receivers don't typically share statistics about their users for privacy reasons.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow answers that it is practically impossible to track if an email address is actively opening messages from other senders. They state that this is due to a combination of technical limitations and privacy restrictions.
Email marketer from MarketingProfs answers that most email validation services concentrate on ensuring an email address is deliverable (i.e., the mailbox exists and accepts mail) and that services tracking email opening habits are scarce and might have privacy concerns.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that while they offer email analytics, it's limited to tracking activity related to the emails sent through their platform. They note that they can't see what users are doing with other senders' emails.
Email marketer from Email Hippo Blog explains that validating emails based on open activity from other senders is generally not possible due to privacy concerns and the limitations of data sharing. They highlight the importance of ethical data handling and respecting user privacy.
What the experts say1Expert opinion
Expert from Word to the Wise answers that attempting to validate email addresses based on open activity across different senders is generally not feasible or advisable. She states that it raises significant privacy concerns and is unlikely to be technically possible due to the limitations of email tracking mechanisms and data sharing restrictions.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Litmus explains that standard email tracking methods, like pixel tracking, can only confirm opens for emails sent by the tracker's owner. Tracking across different senders is not a supported feature and is generally blocked by email clients for privacy reasons.
Documentation from ietf.org discusses the privacy considerations surrounding email communication. It answers that it is technically challenging and ethically questionable to track open activity across different senders without explicit consent, reinforcing the limitations of such validation methods.
Documentation from GDPR explains that collecting and sharing data about email open activity across different senders would likely violate GDPR regulations due to the lack of consent and potential for privacy breaches.