looking for free email service

[Skaperen]

my nephew got a new phone, some cheap Android thing. he signed up for, and started paying for, some cheap phone service. he didn't check for this in advance but they don't provide internet email. they do have an email setup but it only communicates with support and other customers of that phone service. he wants to use some web based services that want to send him email to complete registration. they told him to just get a free email. but all that we have found want another email to register. he's stuck. i'd rather not sign him up with one of mine (he's a young kid of 20 and i don't really trust what he might get into). does anyone know of a free web mail service that does not require an existing email to sign up (register). using his phone number is possible (twitter accepted his) if any would use that. or i might be able to convince him to pay for one if there is a decent cheap one around. he doesn't intend to check it very often.

[mastablasta]

protonmail: https://protonmail.com/

500MB is free.

giving existing/recovery email is optional at signup.

Seriously, why do most email providers want you to give them existing email? if you already have an email, you might not even need an email provider in the first place.

[Skaperen]

i will have him try protonmail and do whatever to not give a email. i have an email there and i remember giving them an email address so that's why i didn't point him to it. but i will tell him to go there. communication to him is going by way of his father, right now.

[T6&sfpER35%]

not sure i understand the problem? there's many many web mail service providers out there , gmail pops up 1st in my head ...

[CelticWarrior]

gmail pops up 1st in my head ...

Yes, of course.

And knowing this is about an Android device, does he not intend to install apps from the Play store? It needs a Google account (=> a gmail address) to do that.

[Skaperen]

i'm not sure. i've been drilling his head about security including app security. i've not had much contact with him since March. my last employment was with a company doing research into apps that are sending data out to unknown places.

[CelticWarrior]

i'm not sure. i've been drilling his head about security including app security. i've not had much contact with him since March. my last employment was with a company doing research into apps that are sending data out to unknown places.

Yes, that's a given even with vanilla Android running the most basic Google services, no need for additional apps.

[Skaperen]

he uses it for texting, facebook (that's a huge issue, IMHO), twitter and some other social media, all w/o apps. he does have a netbook at home with an old 32-bit Ubuntu on it from about 8 years ago.

[T6&sfpER35%]

still don't see a problem , gazillions of people have android,gmail and FB
just let him have a gmail account and get on with it
you asked about a free web mail service that doesn't require another email address
you seem more worried about security though...that's a hole nother topic lol

[SeijiSensei]

Another vote for GMail. It's pretty much a basic requirement for using an Android phone these days. Plus I like having an identity provider so I don't have to create unique logins on every site I visit.

And Thunderbird knows how to access GMail accounts so you can read your mail via a PC as well. (Yes, you can use the web-based GMail interface, but Thunderbird is much more flexible and easier to navigate.)