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[Tim Oppenheim <timopp AT gmail.com>]

Nope you have it right. The receiver has to have your public key and the 
means to decrypt and vice versa.

It's a problem that few really consider until they have been compromised or 
that little tidbit that shouldn't have gotten out did.


On Feb 21, 2010, at 1:28 PM, Gloria Morris wrote:

> Thanks for bringing up PGP, Tim. I've looked into it before, but it 
> seems that in order for it to work, everyone would need to use it. In 
> other words, I  could not send an email encrypted by PGP to a client 
> unless the client also had PGP- otherwise, the client could not read my 
> email? And, if a client or business sends me an email without using PGP, 
> there is also no security either.
> 
> The one thing I like about GMail is that it uses a secure connection for 
> POP and SMTP. And, I have a secure system on this end, with an encrypted 
> network. I realize that while the email is in transit beyond GMail it is 
> open to attack unless encrypted, but I've never figured out how I would 
> get everyone with whom I do business to switch to PGP.
> 
> Or, am I missing something in my reading about PGP? Is it more user 
> friendly than it sounds?
> 
> Gloria
> 
> On 2/21/2010 1:11 PM, Tim Oppenheim wrote:
>> Gloria,
>> 
>> I agree with everything that you say, the big issue here is that email in 
>> of  itself is not very private at all. Whether it's stored on your 
>> computer or somewhere else it is generally sent clear text. The nature of 
>> the Internet is such that the bit and drabs of your message are send out 
>> in pieces finding the best route among millions of servers and computers. 
>> It is trivially easy to grab these packets from the air and read what they 
>> say. I will add getting your particular ones is a might harder, but not 
>> even slightly un-doable.
>> 
>> To your computer from wherever a message originates servers keeps gobs and 
>> gobs of caches and logs. Not to mention that creepy guy down the street on 
>> the same physical circuit as your cable modem.
>> 
>> The essence is don't assume for a second that whatever you email is safe 
>> from prying eyes. It's always best to foment revolution in person ; ).
>> 
>> But please look at PGP ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy 
>> ) and it's kind if you want some assurances.
>> 
>> Tim.
>> 
>> Caveat: Dear Echelon; I only mention revolution for illustrative purposes 
>> only--Tim
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 21, 2010, at 12:55 PM, EarthNSky wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> Here, here...
>>> 
>>> Gloria Morris wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On 2/21/2010 12:53 AM, EarthNSky wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>>  The Gmail portion is operating wonderfully
>>>>> under Thunderbird, but I need to log back on to the website and see if
>>>>> it is storing mail like the problem Glo has.  I don't like webmail
>>>>> because of security....not that I have that much to hide, but it is the
>>>>> principle of the matter.  Can anyone help with this password thing?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> It is odd how those of us who do not care for the concept that others
>>>> can potentially read our email have to defend ourselves in online
>>>> discussions. It should never be necessary to apologetically say "I have
>>>> nothing to hide" when mentioning a concern about privacy issues. But it
>>>> is. Because in almost every on-line conversation about privacy, if
>>>> anyone mentions a concern, in most forums there is a very high
>>>> likelihood that someone will say "I'm not worried about what Google<or
>>>> insert other entity, including the government>  has on me because I HAVE
>>>> NOTHING TO HIDE." The inference is that anyone who gives a rat's ass
>>>> about privacy must be a criminal or have something to hide. Our society
>>>> has gone from valuing individual freedom (and privacy) to practically
>>>> demanding full body searches of innocent people in order to fly on an
>>>> airline in the name of safety, and to fully accepting that our entire
>>>> identities should be openly entrusted to a corporate entity or to the
>>>> government.
>>>> 
>>>> I still like the motto "Live Free or Die!" Over the course of my
>>>> lifetime, I have watched the steady erosion of both privacy and
>>>> individual freedom. People have been slowly conditioned not to care
>>>> about personal freedom or privacy any longer. Sad but true.
>>>> 
>>>> I don't feel we should apologize for not wanting someone reading our
>>>> mail, whether snail or e. Who would feel comfortable seeing someone
>>>> reading their mail out of their mailbox along the road? Even if they
>>>> have nothing to hide? If it is no big deal, then why would that action
>>>> be a federal crime? How is it any different with email? Nowadays, more
>>>> business is conducted via email than snail mail. Many things which are
>>>> of a private nature are dealt with online. And yet with email, a hacker
>>>> or errant Google employee could access yours without your ever seeing
>>>> them rummaging through your virtual mail box. Concern for privacy, in my
>>>> mind anyway, is not a sign of a criminal mind, scheming to hide dark
>>>> secrets, but a matter of prudence.
>>>> 
>>>> Gloria
>>>> 
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>>>> 
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>>>> Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2693 - Release Date: 02/17/10 
>>>> 07:35:00
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Many of our greatest American thinkers, men of the caliber of Thomas
>>> Jefferson, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain, William James, and John Muir, have
>>> found the forest an effective stimulus to original thought.
>>> Bob Marshall
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>> 
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