Getting Started

• What is encryption?
• What is Hushmail?
• Where can I get help on using Hushmail?

Account / Subscription Information

• Can I change my username?
• Where can I find information about my subscription(s)?
• How do I renew my subscription(s)?
• Account deactivation/cancellation

Policy on Illegal Activity

• What is Hushmail's policy on illegal activity?

Spam & Phishing

• How can I deal with spam being sent to my Hushmail address?
• Where can I report spam that involves a Hushmail address?
• Will you ever ask me for my passphrase?

Hushmail & Privacy

• Who owns Hushmail?
• What personal information is required to sign up?
• How can I be sure that intruders or hackers cannot break into my email?
• Does Hushmail have a cryptographic "back door" so that people with a special key can decrypt any message?
• What if Hush receives a court order to release the contents of my account?
• Does Hushmail use Google Analytics?

Hushmail

• Can I send email to anyone using Hushmail?
• Can I send encrypted email to anyone using Hushmail?
• How much email can I store? Can I pay for more storage?
• Is there a size restriction on the messages and attachments I send/receive? Why?
• How does Hushmail transfer attachments? Is this process secure?
• Does Hushmail offer digital signatures?
• Can I sign messages that I send to non-Hushmail users?
• Can I be alerted at another email address whenever I receive email in my Hushmail account?

Encryption is a method of scrambling information in such a way that it can only be read by the intended recipient. Much of the data on the Internet, including normal email, is not encrypted.

Hushmail is the world's first fully encrypted, free web-based email service. Hush's state-of-the-art technology keeps our users' online communications private. Free and easy to use, Hushmail works similarly to other Web-based email providers, except Hushmail offers the security of 2,048-bit encryption between Hushmail users. With Hushmail, users can access their address from any computer that has an internet connection and a web browser.

Want more information?

• Learn more about how Hushmail works!
• Sign up for a free account!

Information on using Hushmail is available in our Help System at:

https://www.hushmail.com/hushmail/showHelpFile.php

The only way Hushmail users can change their usernames is to register for another Hushmail address. Hush recommends that users choose unique usernames that they'll remember.

Subscription information and payment history can be found in Your Account.

Hushmail Premium subscriptions are automatically renewed on a yearly basis. To add new subscriptions or extend your existing ones, please use the upgrade form.

If you're a Hushmail Business customer, please contact us.

All initial billing inquiries should be submitted using the contact form.

Standard accounts will be deactivated after 3 weeks of inactivity.

After an account has been deactivated for one year, it will be completely deleted.

In some situations, newly created accounts may also be deactivated or deleted if they are not accessed within a few hours of account creation, as this is often a sign of abuse by spammers.

Accounts will also immediately be deactivated for involvement in illegal activity.

Hush Communications has a zero-tolerance policy on the use of its services for illegal activity. Any account involved in illegal activities, including any of the following, will be immediately and permanently deactivated:

• Purchase or sale of substances that are illegal in many jurisdictions. This includes steroids, hormones, narcotics, marijuana and marijuana seeds. This also includes any purchase of prescription drugs not intended for individual use with a prescription.
• Purchase or sale of stolen goods.
• Making threats to person or property.
• Possession or distribution of child pornography.
• Fraud.

Also see our Terms of Service.

All Hushmail accounts have a number of Spam Control tools available to deal with spam. To get started, click on the 'Spam Control' button in your account. For more information, click here to view our Online Help System.

Hush has a zero-tolerance policy towards spam. Any spamming activity should be reported to Hush immediately. Full headers are required to verify that the spam originated from Hushmail, and without them, we will not be able to take action. All abuse complaints should be submitted using the contact form.

No staff member from Hush Communications will ever ask you for your passphrase. If you receive an email asking for this or any other confidential information, delete it immediately and do not respond to it.

Learn more about phishing on Wikipedia.

An example of a phishing email pretending to be from Hush Communications:

Dear Account User
This Email is from hushmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every
hushmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions
due to the anonymous registration of hushmail accounts so we are shutting
down some hushmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted.
We are sending you this email so that you can verify and let us know if
you still want to use this account.If you are still interested please
confirm your account by filling the space below. Your User name,password,
date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify
your account.
	

Hush Communications is a privately held Delaware corporation. Its headquarters and operations are located in Vancouver, Canada, with offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Anguilla, British West Indies.

Hush Communications is not and has never been affiliated with, nor owned by, any Government.

While we don't ask for any personal information when you sign up for a free Hushmail account, some will be required if you choose to purchase services by credit card.

Privacy is our business! Accordingly, personal data or individual account data is never shared or sold with third-party businesses. For more information, please refer to the Hushmail Privacy Policy.

Click here to learn about the ways Hushmail can protect your security.

There is no cryptographic "back door" that provides master key access to Hushmail email. We can't just pick an arbitrary encrypted email message off the server and read it. Your encrypted email cannot be decrypted without your own secret passphrase and private key.

However, that doesn't mean that Hushmail users are exempt from the legal process. Learn more.

Also see:

• Does Hush have access to my passphrase?
• Does Hush have access to my private key?

Our policy regarding court orders is available here.

We use Google Analytics to help us understand how people are using our website. This helps us to offer more useful content and to better organize the information on our website.

We do not use Google Analytics in the Hushmail webmail application or on any web pages that reveal private information about your account, such as your email messages or your passphrase.

If you are concerned about the privacy implications of this service, feel free to contact us, or disable Google Analytics in your browser. If you're using Firefox, you can disable Google Analytics by installing the CustomizeGoogle add-on (on the Privacy tab in the CustomizeGoogle Preferences window).

Can I send email to anyone using Hushmail?

Yes. Hushmail functions just like a regular web email account.

Can I send encrypted email to anyone using Hushmail?

Yes. Sending encrypted email is easiest between two Hushmail users. When email is sent between two Hushmail users, the encryption is seamless and exactly like regular email use.

If you send email from a Hushmail account to a regular email account, you can still send it encrypted. To do this you must specify a question which the recipient will have to answer in order to read the email. The recipient will then receive a link to a web page. Then, by answering the question, the recipient will be able to read your email.

You don't have to send your email encrypted. If you have something to say that's not private, you can easily turn off encryption and send a normal email to any email account.

For more information on sending encrypted email, see our Help System

How much email can I store? Can I pay for more storage?

Free Hushmail accounts receive 2 MB of storage space and can upgrade to Hushmail Premium for 250 MB of storage space, plus first access to future upgrades and new features.

To upgrade your account with one of our affiliate domains such as Cyber-Rights, please visit their website.

Is there a size restriction on the attachments I send/receive?

Messages that you receive are limited to 25 megabytes in size for all users, including all attachments associated with the message. Users can send attachments of up to 15 megabytes.

How does Hushmail transfer attachments? Is the process secure?

Attachments sent between Hushmail users are encrypted and transferred in exactly the same way as normal text messages. The attachment is fully encrypted and is secure between Hushmail users.

For information on sending attachments in Hushmail, see our Help System.

Does Hushmail offer digital signatures?

Yes, Hushmail offers its users the ability to digitally sign messages. This feature allows Hushmail users to verify with mathematical certainty that the message received originated from the account listed in the address line of their inboxes. Hence, a digital signature lets the recipients of the message know exactly who has sent a particular message.

For information on how to sign a message in Hushmail, see our Help System.

Can I sign messages that I send to non-Hushmail users?

Yes, Hushmail users can send digitally signed messages to any email address.

To verify these messages, non-Hushmail users can:

1. Visit Hushtools at: https://www.hushtools.com/verify
2. Copy and paste the entire message into the form.
3. Click Verify text and wait for a confirmation message to be displayed.

This will assure non-Hushmail users that the message originated from the true owner of the indicated Hushmail address, and that the message contents have not been altered in transit.

Can I be alerted at another email address whenever I receive email in my Hushmail account?

Yes. For more information, see our Help System.