Google has announced that Gmail’s client-side encryption mode is now available for businesses and educational organizations, following its beta release last year. The feature means that even Google itself cannot see the content of the emails it hosts, and the data is “encrypted before it reaches Google’s servers.” The company says this can be useful for businesses that have to adhere to strict privacy standards.
In a blog post on Tuesday, Google writes that client-side encryption for Gmail gives customers “sole control over their encryption keys, and therefore complete control over all access to their data.” Users can encrypt email they send within their organization, as well as email they send to other parties, even if the recipient doesn’t use Gmail.
Reports of the company’s work to strengthen the encryption of its email service date back to at least 2014, so it’s good to see client-side encryption is finally here. The feature isn’t meant for everyone, though: it’s only available to people with Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, or Education Plus accounts, not personal accounts. It’s also not particularly easy to set up, since the process seems geared towards IT departments.
While Gmail is arguably one of the most important applications for client-side encryption, Google has also launched the option to use the feature for several of your other Workspace apps, such as Drive, Docs, and Meet. Earlier this monthalso announced that client-side encryption was generally available for Google Calendar, allowing companies to add additional protection for an event’s description and attachments.
