Things You'll Need:
- E-mail Accounts
- Privacy Programs
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Step 1
Find a privacy program that uses public-private key encryption or a similar system.
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Step 2
Install the program onto your computer, making sure to install any plug-ins that might be necessary for your particular e-mail software so that the privacy program can be installed directly into your e-mail program.
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Step 3
Create a public key for yourself using the encryption software. The software will probably ask you how large the key should be. Keep in mind that larger keys are more secure but also take longer to encrypt.
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Step 4
Send your public key to anyone who will be sending you e-mail. Make it as accessible as possible by posting it on a server or including it in your outgoing messages.
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Step 5
Gather the public keys of other people to whom you wish to send encrypted e-mail.
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Step 6
When someone wants to send you a secure e-mail, they'll use your public key to encrypt the message.
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Step 7
When you receive an encrypted e-mail, it will look like a group of random symbols until you use your privacy program's private key to decode it. Because you created the public key, only you have the appropriate private key, and therefore, only you can read the e-mail.
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Step 8
Use your program's public-key function to send someone a secure e-mail message encrypted with that person's public key.
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Step 9
When you send an e-mail that has been encrypted with a public key, it can be read only by the person who created the public key.
