Android Market masked e-mail lifetime

Question

When people buy apps on Android Market, Google does not, by default, disclose their e-mail addresses to the seller; instead, the seller gets a masked address along the lines of [email protected], which forwards mail to the real recipient. Does anyone know if these aliases ever expire? If so, what's the lifetime?

Answer 1

They don't have a built-in expiration date, but the address can be disabled any time the buyer indicates s/he no longer wants to receive emails from a particular vendor - It's a function of Google Checkout (hence the subdomain).

From Google Checkout's Privacy Policy Page -

At your request, Google will keep your email address confidential on an order-by-order basis. This is accomplished by creating an anonymous email forwarding address which you may disable at any time. When placing your order, select keep your email address private and Google will then forward the seller's emails to you without sharing your real email address.

If you no longer want to receive emails from a seller, simply click the 'Stop receiving emails from...' opt-out link at the bottom of any email from that seller. You may be prompted to sign into your account before confirming your selection. If you later contact the seller, email forwarding will automatically be re-enabled to allow the seller to respond to your inquiry.