Many Internet Service Providers require that your User ID to access their service include your name, although most do not. Most email software programs have a set-up process which includes a place for your full name and/or organization. This results in email messages sent by you that display this information to the receiver.

To avoid this, and maintain your anonymity while participating in Online Al-Anon, you have several options.

Steps You Can Take
First, you can go into the Mail Preferences or Options of your email software and change or remove the information identifying you by your full name and organization. But this is not foolproof if your email address itself tends to identify or locate you.

Many members of anonymous fellowships online have found that the best way to maintain anonymity, is to subscribe to one of the many free email services available on the Internet. Typically, you can make up any User ID you wish, as long as no one else already has it, and mail sent to the new address will be forwarded by the service to your actual email address.

The results are an email address that will not identify you or even your local internet provider, such as recover@nowhere.com or odat@anywhere.net. To find a service that will allow you to create one of these anonymous email addresses, use any search engine and search for "free+email."

This website is not endorsed by Al-Anon Family Groups, Inc. On Line Al-Anon Meetings are in the experimental stage of development and are neither endorsed nor fully registered by Al-Anon Family Groups, Inc. The official Al-Anon website is: http://www.al-anon.alateen.org Key to Harmony has been granted express written permission to use limited excerpts from Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. Contact the webmaster to report inoperative links.

This page last update June 2000.