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Best email encryption services

RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers

Published: January 15, 2021

Encrypt you emails, they say. How do we do that? you say. PC Magazine shows us the way with their choice of their five favorite email encryption services.
Wait, you say. Don’t my ordinary, normal email services like Gmail and iCloud mail offer encryption? They say they do. But, like a lot of things in this world, saying it don’t make it so. Gmail does use HTTPS connections, but this is the bare minimum and doesn’t equate to encrypted emails. Plus Google can read your emails, even if it says it doesn’t. Apple supports encryption, but requires the user obtain a security certificate. Know how to get one? That’s what I’m saying.
So you need to use an exterior service to actually achieve encrypted email.
PC Mag listed 5 encrypted email services that it could recommend, both free and paid: PreVeil (https://www.preveil.com); Virtru (https://www.virtru.com); ProtonMail (https://protonmail.com); Private-Mail (https://privatemail.com); and StartMail (https://www.startmail.com).
Each of them operates slightly differently, but, cutting to the chase, the review tapped Preveil as the best overall email encryptor and Virtru as best for Gmail (it is made specifically for Gmail). Private-Mail was best for secure file sharing; StartMail was best for creating disposable email addresses (like burner phones); and Proton was best for Proton VPN users. All have free service tiers except StartMail, which does have a free seven-day trial.
Some of these services function on a stand-alone basis and some require the message recipient to also install the same service.
Some of the services offer a new email address, although Virtru requires a Gmail address.
Preveil and Virtru don’t require any technical knowledge or ability to operate. The other three, though, use a PGP system that non-technical people may find difficult to operate. It requires a multi-tier communication with the email recipient similar to two-factor authentication.
Another layer on top of these services supplies one-off email addresses for private communications that self-destruct after use. These are called Disposable Email Addresses (DEA). DEA services include Burner Mail (https://burnermail.io/) and ManyMe (https://manyme.com). Both of those create private, one-use email addresses which use your current email service.
A combination of all that gives you the best protection possible.
Go here for PC Mag’s full analysis and learn something: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-email-encryption-services


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