# HawkOpen — Questions and answers (English)
> Short, checked answers about email tracking, read receipts, campaigns, documents and signatures, plans, privacy and the law. Each answer says what the product does today.
> This information is general and concerns the features of HawkOpen (TriStiX S.L.). It is not individual legal advice or an assessment of whether a specific campaign or document complies with the law. Customers make their own decisions about their activities and, where needed, consult a qualified specialist. This does not limit any rights they have under mandatory law.
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq
JSON: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq.json
Checked: 2026-11-13
## Spotting and blocking email tracking
For people who receive email: how to tell that a message is tracked, how to block it, and what HawkOpen shows recipients.
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block
### How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking
Look for tiny remote images and redirected links: open the message source (in Gmail, Show original) and search for 1×1 images or link addresses on a tracking domain, or use a tracker-detecting extension. Emails tracked by HawkOpen say so at the end, with the link “Do not track my activity”.
No check is perfect. A tracker can use a normal-sized image, and a tracked link looks like an ordinary link until you look at its address. Detector extensions recognise many known trackers, but not all.
HawkOpen does not hide its tracking: it tracks only recipients whose consent the sender’s company has recorded, and every tracked email ends with the notice “This message contains HawkOpen tracking elements.” The link “Do not track my activity” refuses tracking by that company as soon as it is opened; the company cannot switch it back.
Where rules that require consent apply, tracking may start only after that consent has been obtained. The link in the message lets the recipient withdraw consent later.
Related questions: [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking), [What does “tracking pixel detected” mean?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/tracking-pixels-detected-meaning), [Will recipients know that my email is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/recipients/will-recipients-know-their-email-is-tracked)
Checked: 2026-11-12
### How do I block email tracking?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking
Stop your mail program from loading remote images automatically: in Gmail choose to ask before displaying external images, in Outlook keep automatic picture downloads off, and on iPhone or Mac turn on Mail Privacy Protection. For an email tracked by HawkOpen you can also refuse tracking by the sender’s company with the link “Do not track my activity” at the end of the message.
Where to find it: in Gmail, Settings, See all settings, General, Images; on iPhone, Settings, Mail (or Settings, Apps, Mail on newer versions), Privacy Protection; on a Mac, Mail, Settings, Privacy. In Outlook, check the setting for downloading pictures automatically.
Blocking images does not stop link tracking: if you click a tracked link, the click can still be recorded. Gmail’s image proxy hides your network address but can still show the sender that the image was loaded.
If you use the HawkOpen extension in Gmail, Outlook on the web or Yahoo Mail, it also replaces likely tracking pixels it finds in the emails you receive and removes common marketing parameters from links; it cannot guarantee that an image was not already requested before it acted.
Where rules that require consent apply, tracking may start only after that consent has been obtained. The link in the message lets the recipient withdraw consent later.
Related questions: [How can a recipient turn off HawkOpen tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/recipients/how-can-a-recipient-turn-off-tracking), [How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone), [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-12
### Which email providers block trackers?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/email-providers-that-do-not-track
Some mail apps and services load images through a proxy or block remote content by default, which hides or stops tracking images; Apple Mail with Mail Privacy Protection is one example, and privacy-focused providers such as Proton Mail describe built-in tracker protection. HawkOpen is not a mailbox provider and does not rank them.
When choosing, check three things: are remote images off by default or loaded through a proxy, is there protection against tracked links, and can you see what was blocked? With any provider you can also simply turn off automatic image loading.
If a message says that tracking was blocked, the app stopped an image or link from reporting back. Emails tracked by HawkOpen also carry their own notice and the link “Do not track my activity”, where you can refuse tracking by the sender’s company.
Where rules that require consent apply, tracking may start only after that consent has been obtained. The link in the message lets the recipient withdraw consent later.
Related questions: [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking), [How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone)
Checked: 2026-11-12
### How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone
On iPhone or iPad open Settings, then Mail (on newer versions Settings, Apps, Mail), tap Privacy Protection and turn on Protect Mail Activity. On a Mac open Mail, then Settings, Privacy, and select Protect Mail Activity.
The protection works only in Apple’s Mail app; Gmail, Outlook and other apps on the same phone have their own settings. It loads remote content privately in the background and hides your network address, but it does not stop tracked links from recording a click.
Senders who use HawkOpen see such requests marked as **privacy proxy** (R-OPEN-APPLE), not as you reading the message.
Related questions: [What is Apple Mail Privacy Protection?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/accuracy/what-is-apple-mail-privacy-protection), [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### What does “tracking pixel detected” mean?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/tracking-pixels-detected-meaning
Your mail app or a privacy extension found an image in the message that looks like a tracker: tiny, or with an address unique to you. It means the sender may learn when the image loads, not that your computer is infected; usually the tool has blocked or replaced the image.
You do not need to do anything. If you prefer, keep remote images switched off; remember that links in the same message may also be tracked.
The HawkOpen extension can show such a note itself: in Gmail, Outlook on the web and Yahoo Mail it replaces likely tracking pixels in emails you receive and labels them as sanitised, though it cannot guarantee that the image was not requested before. Emails tracked by HawkOpen state the tracking openly in a notice at the end, with the link “Do not track my activity”.
Where rules that require consent apply, tracking may start only after that consent has been obtained. The link in the message lets the recipient withdraw consent later.
Related questions: [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking), [What is an email tracking pixel?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/how-works/what-is-an-email-tracking-pixel), [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-12
### Can you trace an email address or its IP to a person?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#can-you-trace-an-email-address-or-ip
Not with HawkOpen. It does not look up unknown senders or addresses. For emails you send through it, it shows at most the country of the network a request came from, never a city, a street or a name.
If you receive a suspicious or threatening email, the message headers in your mail program show which servers handled it; your provider, your IT administrator or the police can take it further. A network address often belongs to a provider or a proxy, not to the person.
Related questions: [Can an email tracker show the recipient’s location?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/accuracy/can-email-track-location), [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Is opening an email dangerous?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#is-it-safe-to-open-email-from-unknown-sender
Usually the risk comes from clicking links or opening attachments, not from reading. Reading with images on can, however, tell the sender that a tracking image was loaded. HawkOpen is not an antivirus and does not check emails you receive for malware.
Keep your mail program and system updated, leave remote images off for unknown senders, and check a link’s real address before clicking. For suspected fraud, follow your provider’s or your IT department’s advice.
Related questions: [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking), [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Why does Apple Mail say it cannot load remote content privately?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#mail-cannot-load-remote-content-privately
It is an Apple Mail message: Mail Privacy Protection could not fetch the images through Apple’s relay, often because of a VPN or network setting, and asks before loading them directly. It has nothing to do with HawkOpen.
If you load the content anyway, a tracking image in the message may reach the sender directly, with your network address. When HawkOpen sees a load through Apple’s relay, it marks it with R-OPEN-APPLE.
Related questions: [How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone), [What is Apple Mail Privacy Protection?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/accuracy/what-is-apple-mail-privacy-protection)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Is Viva Insights email tracking visible to my employer?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#viva-insights-tracking-visible-to-employer
Viva Insights is a Microsoft product, not HawkOpen, so its documentation and your organisation’s Microsoft 365 administrator are the right sources for what it shows and to whom. HawkOpen is not connected to it.
HawkOpen tracks emails that its users send, only for recipients who consented to tracking by the sender’s company, and every email it tracks states this in a notice at the end of the message.
Where rules that require consent apply, tracking may start only after that consent has been obtained. The link in the message lets the recipient withdraw consent later.
Related questions: [How do I know if someone has access to my mailbox, not just a tracking pixel?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#is-someone-monitoring-my-mailbox-account), [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-12
### How do I know if someone has access to my mailbox, not just a tracking pixel?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#is-someone-monitoring-my-mailbox-account
That is a different problem from tracking. Check your provider’s security page for recent sign-ins, devices and connected apps, remove what you do not recognise and change your password. A tracking pixel only reports that an image loaded; it gives no access to your mailbox.
Also check for forwarding rules or filters you did not create. If you connected your mailbox to HawkOpen, that access comes from the Google or Microsoft sign-in you approved, or from the IMAP and SMTP details you entered; you can remove the mailbox in HawkOpen and withdraw the app’s access in your Google or Microsoft account.
Related questions: [How can I tell if an email I received is tracked?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-detect-email-tracking), [Is Viva Insights email tracking visible to my employer?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#viva-insights-tracking-visible-to-employer)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Do Gmail or Outlook themselves track when I open emails?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#does-gmail-or-outlook-track-my-emails
Neither gives senders open tracking by default. Outlook and Google Workspace offer read receipts, which you can decline. Senders who want to know about opens add a tracker, such as HawkOpen, on top.
Gmail does load images through its own proxy, which hides your network address but can still let a sender see that the image was requested. HawkOpen recognises such proxy requests and does not classify them as human activity.
Related questions: [Does Gmail have read receipts?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/read-receipts/does-gmail-show-read-receipts), [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### I turned on Protect Mail Activity, but the sender still seems to know when I read mail. Why?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#protect-mail-activity-not-working-sender-still-knows
The feature hides your network address and loads images in advance, but it does not hide what you do yourself: clicking a tracked link, replying or sending a read receipt still tells the sender you engaged.
It also protects only Apple Mail: reading the same account in another app or in a browser does not use it. A sender using HawkOpen sees Apple’s loads marked as Apple Mail Privacy Protection, not as human activity.
Related questions: [How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone), [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Can a unique image address identify me even when Apple proxies the request?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#unique-image-url-identifies-me-despite-proxy
It identifies which recipient’s copy was loaded, yes: each copy has its own image address. What Apple hides is your network and the moment you read, because it loads the image in advance; HawkOpen marks such loads as Apple Mail Privacy Protection.
So the sender learns that the email reached an Apple Mail user, not that you read it or where you are.
Related questions: [What is Apple Mail Privacy Protection?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/accuracy/what-is-apple-mail-privacy-protection), [I turned on Protect Mail Activity, but the sender still seems to know when I read mail. Why?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#protect-mail-activity-not-working-sender-still-knows)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Why are remote images not loading in my mail app?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#remote-images-not-loading-in-mail-app
Usually a setting: your mail app is set to block remote content, a privacy feature could not load it, or your network or company filter blocks it. Look in the app’s privacy or image settings.
Keeping images blocked is a valid choice for privacy: tracking images then load nothing, so a sender sees no open. Links you click can still be tracked.
Related questions: [How do I block email tracking?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/how-to-block-email-tracking), [What happens if the recipient blocks images?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/accuracy/what-if-recipient-blocks-images)
Checked: 2026-11-11
### Why does Mail Privacy Protection need “Limit IP Address Tracking” on my network?
URL: https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#mail-privacy-protection-needs-limit-ip-tracking
According to Apple, if “Limit IP Address Tracking” is off for a Wi-Fi or mobile network, Mail does not hide your IP address on that network. It is an Apple setting; HawkOpen only classifies the requests it receives.
You find the option in the settings of each Wi-Fi network and of mobile data on iPhone. Loads that do come through Apple’s relay are marked R-OPEN-APPLE in HawkOpen.
Related questions: [How do I turn on Mail Privacy Protection on iPhone or Mac?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block/protect-mail-activity-iphone), [Why does Apple Mail say it cannot load remote content privately?](https://hawkopen.com/en/faq/detect-block#mail-cannot-load-remote-content-privately)
Checked: 2026-11-11