Alice and Bob both use encrypted email -> communication is safe.
Alice uses encrypted email, Bob is in a country over which Alice’s adversary has no jurisdiction and Bob uses a regular email service -> communication is safe.
Alice uses encrypted email, Bob uses regular email but Alice’s adversary has no idea that Alice talks with Bob because she is the only one being watched -> communication is safe.
Significant email metadata and routing information cannot be encrypted. All the typical email tools a user might try to use will work against their attempts to remain secure. It’s a typical situation when security is retrofitted to an insecure interface. There are use cases for encrypted email but in 2026 it’s hard to find one that isn’t better served some other way.
Encrypted email is the most pokiness thing. Send an email to anyone not on their server and it is plaintext and anyone can read it.
Alice and Bob both use encrypted email -> communication is safe.
Alice uses encrypted email, Bob is in a country over which Alice’s adversary has no jurisdiction and Bob uses a regular email service -> communication is safe.
Alice uses encrypted email, Bob uses regular email but Alice’s adversary has no idea that Alice talks with Bob because she is the only one being watched -> communication is safe.
Significant email metadata and routing information cannot be encrypted. All the typical email tools a user might try to use will work against their attempts to remain secure. It’s a typical situation when security is retrofitted to an insecure interface. There are use cases for encrypted email but in 2026 it’s hard to find one that isn’t better served some other way.