My public key

Why use email encryption?

Why not? Is it true that if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear?

What’s the need? Isn’t it going a bit overboard and techy?
Everyone’s emails are automatically scanned for keywords, and held for at least six months, maybe more. If the Government, or any self appointed bunch of strangers actually, were constantly looking over my shoulder and recording what I was writing, I’d get all paranoid and start talking in code. Actually, that’s what’s happening when we send an email.

In a world where this kind of surveillance is ‘normal’, encrypting my emails is an easy way to maintain basic human privacy. And it is easy.

A normal email is like sending a postcard… but sending it to your email provider and the Government first, so they can check and record what you’ve written before passing it on to your friend.
An encrypted email is like putting it in an envelope… but an envelope so strong no one but your friend can open it.

How good is it?
I use GPG, the free software version of PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy. It’s pretty good. Maybe at the moment it could take a few hundred years to break it, maybe a lot more – it’s hard to know just how fast computers exist. Of course they’ll get a lot faster, but GPG is pretty good for the moment.

How does it work?
Basically, like this (nice pictures)

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How do I use it?

To send me encrypted emails, you need to:
A. Use an email program on your computer, not webmail.
B. Install GPG

To receive encrypted emails from others, you also need to:
C. Use GPG to make your own ’keypair’
.

Instructions

1. Get a good email program on your computer

2. Send and receive encrypted emails with GPG

I’d be really happy to answer any questions too, or even go through it with you if there’s time.

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More information…

Privacy, Email and Activism - a brief intro
Riseup collective on encrypted email: (1) (2)
Activist email/tech providers and collectives around the world

A reality check from xkcd