Paid 'Hide My Email' isn't anonymous

A platform can retain and disclose the link between a user’s anonymous alias (created by a paid privacy feature) and their real account, meaning paying for an anonymizing service on a major device vendor does not guarantee legal anonymity. The court record shows Apple provided the FBI the real iCloud account name associated with an alias generated by 'Hide My Email' and that the account had created 134 anonymized addresses. — This shifts the privacy debate from whether features exist to what data vendors retain, how transparent they are about that retention, and what legal thresholds are needed for compelled disclosure.