If you want to communicate more securely, encryption can be a good solution. For email, I use a tool called PGP, which stands for “pretty good privacy” and which relies on a system of “keys” to lock and unlock data. PGP does a good job of protecting the content of your messages, but using it isn’t exactly simple, especially for the average person.
I’ve gotten a few questions in the past several months from journalists and others who want to email in a more secure way but don’t yet know how to use PGP, so I figured I’d provide some basic instructions. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know.
Before you get started, a word of caution: Using encrypted email can protect the contents of your messages, but it doesn’t hide the fact that you were sending the message in the first place.