I've had an email account with Google since Gmail was still in the invite period. Remember back when you had to ask other users for an invite link and once you got in, you had only 10 precious links you could give away?

I can still recall seeing websites sprouting up where users were bartering and even paying to be let into this exclusive club. I had someone send me a pebble from a stream in Alaska (my favorite state), in return for an invite, and paid him for his time so that it worked out for both of us.

They'll Be Watching You...

It was interesting to see how far people would go to get in on this hot new thing. This was the "Don't be evil" company, and there was a lot of hope that the founders would live up to the altruistic vision that the company seemed to embody.

Then the privacy issues started being reported. That our sweet, sweet, Google which was almost as beloved as Apple and seemingly one of the "good guys" was scanning our emails for profit.

Report after report began coming out about the myriad ways they were snooping on user activities. Your emails were no longer between you and the person you sent them to, there were now three people in this relationship, and they knew every word that you sent out...

There was a sense of violation knowing this digital peeping Tom was privy to your most private discussions. But as with many free services, as Adam Curry once said, "if there's no price, you're the product!" Truer words were never spoken.

However, as the years went by, users became hooked on the service, having built up a mass of contacts much like the people on Facebook. And the company knew it. Things changed for me when I studied in Germany and learned about their propensity for privacy baked into the country's laws as a byproduct of the excesses during WWII.

I remember speaking to the very kind city employee who was processing my German Visa. During a discussion about Gmail, he recommended a privacy-focused email firm located in Germany called Tutanota. I promised him I'd look into it upon my return to the states, and I did.

Private Email At Your Fingertips

Tutanota offers "secure, encrypted email for everybody." I tried the free version for awhile just to see if I'd like it, then upgraded to the premium version for only 12 Euros a year. There are higher tiers with more features and here's a link to their Pricing List, and their FAQ.

Emails are sent automatically encrypted to other Tutanota users, and can be sent encrypted or unencrypted to external users. The video below shows a Tutanota user Setting up an encrypted email to be sent to a Gmail user. It's that easy.