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Tableview
8th Dec 2012, 06:36
Is there any way of seeing if an email has been displayed and of getting the IP address of the computer on which it was read?

I know that email clients such as the awful Windows Live Mail or the late lamented Outlook Express can request a 'read receipt' but the flaw in that is that it relies on the recipient accepting the 'read receipt' request. I am sending this particular email address from one which is set up on the web interface.

In this case, the address from which I'm sending is [email protected] and the recipient is [email protected].

Thanks.

Bushfiva
8th Dec 2012, 06:46
Quite a few ways. If you're reasonably confident the recipient is accepting HTML emails, you can embed something like a 1-pixel image served by a site or resource you control then inspect the site log to check when the image was served. Of course, you can add bells and whistles to have the site or service notify you. If you're reasonably sure the recipient is using what one would call a browser-based email reader, then you could serve them a cookie.

Milo Minderbinder
8th Dec 2012, 07:38
even then theres ways for the reader to get round it
for instance, if like me you use "The Bat!" or "Zimbra" as an e-mail client then those 1-pixel web tags will never get displayed unless the default program begaviour is changed, Its one of the reasons I use them. I also have sending of read receipt replies disabled......
Even in Outllook Express the recipient may have specified "text only"

and of course you can block cookies as well - though its less likely the recipient has done that

Bushfiva
8th Dec 2012, 07:45
Well, obviously. A suitably-armed defender can prevail against a suitably-armed aggressor. But most people, on both sides, aren't.

Tableview
8th Dec 2012, 08:31
Thanks for the suggestion but I was looking for something which a Luddite like myself could use. I don't control any sites or resources on the internet and have no idea how set a cookie ........ so .......