Are Your Attorney-Client Email Messages Really Confidential?
Attorneys have a duty of care to maintain the confidentiality of communications with clients and select third parties. However, many law firms still utilize standard email services to send, receive and store confidential messages and files. Even “secure” email providers only encrypt their users’ messages some of the time, and can read their users’ emails and attachments.
Ask your email service provider the following questions to determine if your email communications are truly confidential.
1) Do you have access to my email password? If yes, your service provider can read your email.
2) Are both my email and the connection through which it is transmitted encrypted? Unless the answer is yes, your email can be read if the connection encryption is defeated (which is quite common).
3) Do you automatically encrypt my email when I create it? Do you encrypt files the moment I attach them? If not, your email can be read if your device is lost or stolen. If encryption is not automatic and persistent, you are relying on all of your recipients to remember to send and store your emails in an encrypted state.
4) Do you store my email encryption keys on your servers? If yes, your service provider can read your email, and they can provide it to others.
5) Is my email’s subject line or other metadata sent in the clear (unencrypted)? If yes, your service provider can see by whom and when emails are sent or received, and also what the emails are about - and so can anyone else.
Want to find out if your email communications are confidential? Review and download a copy of the complete email questionnaire.
Looking for a truly confidential email alternative for your practice? Visit us at www.absio.com/law.
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