Receiving encrypted emails

[Tashto]

I'm Using https://apps.talktalk.co.uk/ on windows 11 - works fine in all respects except -

My medical consultant is obliged by law to send confidential information to me by encrypted email.

He will need to do this shortly

Problem is - last time he tried this some months ago I received nothing at all - and no, it wasn't in the spam file either.

Any ideas ?

[Tashto]

Hi Gondola

I'm sorry I didn't reply to your post of Feb 16th - I thought my query had just been dismissed when told that "There's no reason for content encrypted mail not to be received by a TalkTalk Mail recipient" when clearly it wasn't being received.

Just me being a bit dim! - sorry😊

I can only assume that my consultant does use a different system for sending encrypted messages because I can receive normal emails o.k. - there is a clue here received by normal email  - "I emailed you the documents through our encryption service last night. Hopefully you will get them, if not then I have also posted."

Nothing received through Gmail or outlook either when I gave them an alternative address to try.

Thank you for the link about Medical professionals sending encrypted emails.

It seems I need to find out what encryption software my consultant is using and somehow match it it at my end. 

The link also suggests that I should have been advised from the start how to decrypt their emails.

Once again - sorry if I seemed rude or ungrateful  - it's all a bit of a mystery to me 

[Gondola]

I note that Tashto didn't bother replying to my reply that he described as unhelpful.

I asked if plain unencrypted messages got through from his consultant. No response to that question from Tashto. He also doesn't know what encryption app the consultant is using which begs the question that if the consultant is actually sending encrypted mail messages how is Tashto going to decrypt them?

Here's some advice from another source about encrypted mail that may mean the recipient can download an encryption app.

Or does the term encryption just mean the normal SSL/TLS connection security that every mail message should use? i.e. A TalkTalk Mail user will simply see messages in plain text.

I have merged the two identical topics together. Good response from @Divsec and should be followed by @Tashto even though TalkTalk Mail is functioning properly. I leave this topic in good hands.

[Tashto]

Thanks Divsec

[Divsec]

Hi @Tashto the quickest and easiest way would be to create a new email account with either Gmail or Outlook and use that. In case this doesn't work for you your post has been escalated. 

[Tashto]

I'm using windows 11

I launch Talktalk webmail from my Talktalk account so it is presumably perfectly set up and bang up to date.

It launches in Microsoft Edge browser.

I have checked that there are no rules set.

My consultant surgeon is required by law to send me emails containing personal details by encrypted email.

Given that that Talktalk webmail is "as provided" and is presumably perfectly set up - why can I not receive very important encrypted emails from him?

I get nothing at all - no headers - nothing. And there is nothing in my spam folder.

I have asked about this before and was told that "there is no reason why I shouldn't receive encrypted emails" - not very helpful!

Could it be that Talktalk's spam filter has caught them?

Please don't reply with technical jargon - I'm 78 and not that tech savvy 😊- I just want to know why Talktalk webmail which is "as provided " is letting me down over this very important issue and what if anything can be about it.

Last encrypted email was sent to me Fri 23rd Feb. I don't know what encryption "app" they are using and they are far too busy to get involved with my "provider" problems.

I very much hope that there is a simple solution to rectify Talktalk's very own webmail not functioning properly

Many thanks

[Gondola]

There's no reason for content encrypted mail not to be received by a TalkTalk Mail recipient. The mail headers are never encrypted only the body content.

Does your medical consultant use a different system for sending content encrypted messages versus unencrypted messages? i.e you have tested that unencrypted messages do get to your Inbox from the exact same source?

TalkTalk Mail does not use content encryption.  So you'd need additional software to read email content. The TalkTalk Mail platform operator Open Xchange does have an  add-on product, OX Guard, that uses the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption model which proves that the platform itself does support content encryption.