[feat] Allow sending plaintext emails instead of HTML #402

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opened 2022-12-27 06:24:05 +00:00 by Ghost · 1 comment

Ghost commented

2022-12-27 06:24:05 +00:00

The idea

Akkoma should have the ability to select between sending a plaintext email (Content-Type: text/plain) or an HTML email (text/html), either per-user configuration or globally.

The reasoning

Citing numerous reasons listed in https://useplaintext.email/#why-plaintext:

HTML makes it easier for phishing
Most HTML emails have a bad rep for containing tracking pixels/images and tracking URLs behind the actual URL you want to go to
It's unnecessarily complex web tech for simply receiving things like digest notifications or password reset emails
Very significant attack surface and a security nightmare
Not as good accessibility compared to plain text emails due to formatting nightmares
Terminal email clients don't render HTML emails 100% properly unless they're specifically written like a plaintext email, in which case why isn't the email being sent as plaintext in the first place?
And rich text is pointless for simple things like password resets, digests, etc.

Plaintext emails are also less likely to be classified as spam which helps tremendously if you're self hosting email and you want to reach as many servers as possible.

Given fedi culture, it's not unlikely to see someone using a terminal email client or self hosting email.

Have you searched for this feature request?

I have double-checked and have not found this feature request mentioned anywhere.
This feature is related to the Akkoma backend specifically, and not pleroma-fe.

### The idea Akkoma should have the ability to select between sending a plaintext email (Content-Type: text/plain) or an HTML email (text/html), either per-user configuration or globally. ### The reasoning Citing numerous reasons listed in https://useplaintext.email/#why-plaintext: - HTML makes it easier for phishing - Most HTML emails have a bad rep for containing tracking pixels/images and tracking URLs behind the actual URL you want to go to - It's unnecessarily complex web tech for simply receiving things like digest notifications or password reset emails - Very significant attack surface and a security nightmare - Not as good accessibility compared to plain text emails due to formatting nightmares - Terminal email clients don't render HTML emails 100% properly unless they're *specifically written* like a plaintext email, in which case why isn't the email being sent as plaintext in the first place? - And rich text is pointless for simple things like password resets, digests, etc. Plaintext emails are also *less* likely to be classified as spam which helps tremendously if you're self hosting email and you want to reach as many servers as possible. Given fedi culture, it's not unlikely to see someone using a terminal email client or self hosting email. ### Have you searched for this feature request? - [x] I have double-checked and have not found this feature request mentioned anywhere. - [x] This feature is related to the Akkoma backend specifically, and not pleroma-fe.

👍 2

Ghost added the

feature request

label 2022-12-27 06:24:05 +00:00