Campaign to have end to end encryption for email by default
Pirate Praveen Sat 12 Sep 2026 7:25PMPublicSeen by 54This would give us better privacy by hiding our emails from providers and indirectly governments getting access to our emails via these providers.
Earlier manually setting up end to end encryption with gpg was a difficult process. Now email services like Proton, Tuta and recently started Astermail have made it very easy.
Thunderbird email client has also gained gpg support without any extensions. All we need to do is ask people to encrypt emails by default. The more people can receive encrypted emails the better privacy everyone has.
I think we should start a campaign and have at least all fsci active members being able to send and receive encrypted email.
If you have a Proton, Tuta or Aster mail account then you are already covered. Just make sure to publish keys in the settings.
This would be a good time to consider switching from gmail/yahoo/outlook etc. If you want community run email servers, riseup.net and disroot.org are good. It is sad to see inventati.org shutting down.
Can you send an receive encrypted mails?
poll by Pirate Praveen Closing Mon 12 Oct 2026 6:00PM
What is this poll about?
We need to check how many people in fsci can send/receive encrypted emails
Why is this important?
More people being able to receive encrypted email is important for us to be able to send encrypted emails and have privacy for our email communications.
What are you asking people to do?
Set this up today if you have not done it already.
Choose the option(s) you favor.
Current results
| Current results | Option | % of points | Voters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yes | 100 | 8 |       | |||
| Undecided | 275 |           |
Pirate PraveenSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
Since debian uses gpg keys for authenticating members, I have been able to do this for many years already - but most others I talk to have not set this up yet.
Badri SunderarajanSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
I have PGP encryption and was using it occasionally, but not by default and I would sometimes forget to set it.
I have now changed my email client settings to always encrypt by default (when no key s are available, it prompts to search for keys). I would encourage others who have voted "yes" here to do the same, so that we can normalise emails being end-to-end encrypted.
AkshaySat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
The only people who have keys is free software folks. And with them I talk either on codema or on matrix/xmpp/etc. Have never sent an encrypted email except to check encryption works.
Deep PandyaSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
I have successfully tested end-to-end encryption using GPG on Thunderbird.
Although I have been using GPG with pass program. I had not set mail encryption before. Added today!
Pirate PraveenSun 13 Sep 2026 4:58PM
@Deep Pandya If you can share the process with people - how easy or difficult was it, that can motivate more people to try, especially if it is not very difficult. But starting directly in thunderbird would be much easier as you can generate a key pair graphically without using any commands at all. Exporting an existing key and importing it is more work - but for people who already have a gpg key, that would still be helpful.
DerpitronSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
I use protonmail and my address is published on my profile. If I am to migrate from proton to another provider as suggested by Badri below, I will need some time for moving everything.
Nandakumar EdamanaSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
I wish banks, govt agencies, etc. had an option to enable GPG and submit our keys.
Ravi DwivediSat 12 Sep 2026 7:28PM
I am doing this for years. Thanks to@Pirate Praveen, who taught me this 5 years ago. I use Thunderbird to encrypt and decrypt my emails.
Pirate Praveen ·Sun 13 Sep 2026 2:26PM
@Akshay anyone with a proton or tuta or aster (recent) have also it by default. I'd think you have interacted with at least one proton or tuta user. I think Proton/Tuta are popular among "privacy but not necessarily with Free Software" folks too (people who use Signal on iPhone for example), which should be a slightly wider circle than purely Free Software/Open Source circles.