Encryption at rest
Sealed before it is stored.
Bodies, attachments and what you write are sealed on the way into storage, so a copy of the database is ciphertext rather than mail.
In short
What is encryption at rest?
Encryption at rest seals stored data, so a copy taken without the key is unreadable. Whoever holds the key can still read it.
How it works
Sealed against a copy, not the server
The server holds the key, so a stolen database dump or file copy is ciphertext, while threading, search and summaries still work.
One rule for what is sealed
Seal what a person wrote or chose, leave what the machine chose. Timestamps and your domain stay readable.
Search runs on what stays readable
Search reads each thread's sender, subject and the first 4,000 characters of its newest message. Those stay readable for now, so any fragment still matches.
What you get
In the product today
What is sealed now
Message bodies and attachments, plus notes, summaries, assistant chats, calendar details, rules and the secrets you hand us.
Keys kept apart
Every value is sealed under its own derived key and bound to its field, so one moved elsewhere will not open.
Disk encryption underneath
The storage provider's disk encryption still sits below our own layer.
Good practice
Getting the most out of it
- 01
Use end-to-end for secrets
It works between Nextmail addresses with published keys, and seals the body from us.
- 02
Keep secrets out of subjects
End-to-end encryption leaves subjects readable, and so does the mailbox list, which search runs on.
- 03
Read the privacy page
It says plainly what the server can read today.
Questions
Asked often
Keep going
Works well with
OpenPGP keys made in your browser. Mail you send to another Nextmail address can be sealed before it leaves the tab, and sealed mail addressed to you opens in the reading pane, decrypted on your machine. The keys are never ours to hand over.
Start
Your domain,
your mail.
Point a domain at Nextmail and read it in a mailbox built around it. The free plan covers one domain.