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Here Are the Most Secure Email Providers That Will Help You Increase Your Level of Online Anonymity.

In this article, I’m going to offer you the best encrypted email services, alternatives to popular email services such as Gmail or Yahoo, which can also be secured to a certain degree, but, at the same time, mainstream providers are notorious for mishandling their users’ data or scanning inboxes for keywords to display personalized ads.

You may be concerned that everything you do online is being watched by the government, powerful corporations, or malicious hackers.  

In the past, we’ve shared with you what encrypted messaging apps you should use for secure communication and also walked you through the most popular free encryption software tools.

We can all agree on the fact that a huge part of our internet activity revolves around email. And I’m sure you want that everything you share via email to stay private and only be accessed by the people you choose, and the perfect way to do this is through encrypted emails.

Although there are multiple ways to secure your email using encryption software, they are often difficult to implement by unskilled users. Maybe at a later time, I’m going to also dig into this subject if you are interested, but for now, I’m going to look at some encrypted email service options that are easy to use.  
So, below I’ve put together a list of user-friendly web-based encrypted email services that will help you increase your level of online anonymity.  

You’ll notice that (almost) all of the options come from European countries. Here, the GDPR imposes strict rules on data privacy, and among many other regulations, it’s making privacy by design a legal requirement.  

Disclaimer: While none of those encrypted email services providers will share your data with other companies/advertisers, some may present it to government entities under legal demands.

1. ProtonMail

ProtonMail is an encrypted email service based in Switzerland and created by scientists, engineers, and developers from CERN, with the intention of increasing your online security and privacy. They pride themselves on datacenters “located under 1000 meters of granite rock in a heavily guarded bunker which can survive a nuclear attack”.  

Features:

• Free option with 500MB storage and 150 emails per day
  
• Paid options starting from $ 4.00 / Month for personal use
  
• Business plans for $6.25 / Month / User
  
• Two-step verification
  
• Use your own domain
  
• Mobile apps available (iOS and Android)
  
• Report phishing option
  
• Self-destructing messages – you can set an expiration time on your emails so they get automatically deleted from the recipient’s inbox after a certain time
  
• Based on open-source code
  
• They use AES, RSA, and OpenPGP encryption
  

2. Tutanota

When it comes to the best encrypted email services, Tutanota cannot be overlooked. Tutanota is an encrypted email provider from Germany. They position themselves as a secure email services alternative to Gmail. According to their website, they are also planning to include a calendar, notes, and cloud storage in their offering – and of course, all of these features will be encrypted too.  

Features:

• Free for 1 user with 1GB of storage
  
• Other paid options starting from €12 for personal use  
  
• Business plans available
  
• Free for non-profit organizations
  
• Use your own domain
  
• Two-factor authentication
  
• Based on open-source code
  
• Their data centers run on 100% renewable energy
  

Additional details: If you want to send an email to someone who’s using different encrypted email services (for instance, Gmail), you will be asked to enter a password that you will have to share with the recipient.  

The recipient will then use it to unlock your message and be able to read it by accessing a link. The URL will remain active until you send them another confidential email.  

This is what an email sent from a Tutanota account to someone who is using a different email service looks like.  

3. Hushmail

Hushmail is a secure email service based in Canada that encrypts your email communication. Simplicity is at the core of their business in order to keep their customers secure and better understand potential threats. Hushmail uses the “passphrase” naming for the log-in field which is typically referred to as “password”, in this way encouraging people to use more complex passwords – phrases, rather than words.

Features:

• 14-Day free trial (no credit card required), then $49.98 per year with 10GB of email storage
  
• Business plans available
  
• iOS app
  
• Two-factor authentication
  
• Use your own domain
  
• An account will be locked if too many attempts are made to access it
  
• Ability to set up Hushmail within an email program (Mac Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Android phone, Thunderbird)
  
• Inbox antivirus and spam filtering
  
• TLS/SSL, OpenPGP encryption
  

Additional details: Similar to Tutanota, if your recipient is not using Hushmail, you have to check the Encrypted checkbox, and the email will be read on a secure web page.
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