What does alignment mean in DMARC and how does it affect my policy?

DMARC alignment refers to the requirement that the domain used in a DMARC authentication check (either SPF or DKIM) must match the domain visible in the email's From header. There are two types: strict alignment requires an exact domain match, while relaxed alignment allows a match between organizational domains (e.g., subdomain.example.com aligns with example.com). Your DMARC record lacks explicit alignment parameters because `aspf` and `adkim` default to relaxed mode (`r`). To enforce alignment, add these tags; for example, `v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@mydomain.com; aspf=r; adkim=r` explicitly sets both SPF and DKIM alignment to relaxed. Without proper alignment, even emails passing SPF or DKIM might fail DMARC if the authenticated domain doesn't align with the From header, undermining spoofing protection.