What you need to know before emailing sensitive information

If you’re emailing sensitive information, make sure to take the proper precautions to keep it safe. Here are a few tips to help you secure your emails and protect your data.

The risks of emailing sensitive information

Emailing sensitive information can be risky, as there are many ways for your information to be compromised. Here are just a few of the risks:

1. Human error: Typing in the wrong email address, adding an unauthorised person as a CC recipient, or forgetting to encrypt a message can all lead to your information being exposed.
2. Email providers scanning the contents of emails: Your email provider may scan the contents of your emails for marketing or other purposes. If your information is not encrypted, it could be easily accessed by anyone with access to those emails.
3. Man-in-the-middle attacks: Hackers can set up fake email servers that appear to be legitimate, but that steal the contents of messages as they’re being sent. This type of attack is on the rise, so it’s important to take steps to protect yourself.

To reduce the risk of these types of attacks, always use strong unique passwords for your email accounts and set up setup 2-factor authentication as a first action point. When communicating with clients via email, always encrypt your messages where possible, and be wary of any suspicious-looking emails.

How to secure your emails

OpenPGP is a secure email encryption standard that allows you to send and receive encrypted emails. It works by generating a unique key for each email recipient, which is used to encrypt the message. The recipient then uses their key to decrypt the message.

If you’re using an email client like Thunderbird or Outlook, there are many plugins available that will allow you to send and receive OpenPGP-encrypted emails. Alternatively, many online services offer OpenPGP encryption, such as ProtonMail and Tutanota, so this can be one of the best times to switch to an encrypted email provider.

When sending or receiving an encrypted email, it’s important to make sure that you are using the correct keys for each recipient. If the keys are not compatible, the email will not be able to be decrypted. Therefore using a provider and software that natively support standard encryption protocols will mean you no longer need to hire an ex Intelligence Officer to configure your email client.

As an alternative to email, we suggest using Welloca Forms which allows you to provide links to your clients giving them simple, secure, encrypted forms to provide sensitive information. This way, if a client wants to issue a GDPR deletion request, you don’t have to go through your email records to remove data at a later time.

Welloca Forms also ensure the privacy rights of your clients are respected. We don’t set cookies or track them around the web. One form, one action. Period.

Tips for respecting the privacy of your clients and staff

When communicating with clients via email, it’s important to respect their privacy and keep their information confidential. Here are a few tips for doing so:

1. Don’t add unauthorised people as CC recipients: Only add people who are directly involved in the conversation, and make sure that you trust everyone who you’re sharing information with.
2. Encrypt your messages where possible: If you’re sending sensitive information, use a tool like OpenPGP to encrypt your message. This will help to keep your information safe from hackers and other malicious actors.
3. Stay away from big tech: Many big tech companies like Google and Facebook have been caught mishandling user data in the past. It’s best to avoid using their services if you want to keep your information safe and confidential. Especially when you’re handling sensitive category health data!

Email is one of the most commonly used methods of communication, but it can also be one of the least secure. By following a few simple steps, you can ensure that your emails are as secure as possible. In this article, we’ve outlined a few tips for securing your email communications. We suggest using OpenPGP encryption whenever possible and avoiding big tech companies like Google and Facebook which have been caught mishandling user data in the past.