Is Hushmail a plug-in?

Hushmail’s customer care team often receives calls about whether or not Hushmail can be used as a plug-in with an existing Gmail, Yahoo, or other email account. A plug-in is a piece of software that can be added to an existing computer program to provide a specific service such as virus scanning or encryption. It’s not a stand-alone service but a customization.

We understand the thought process behind this request. Customers have email accounts they’ve been using for years. They would like to use Hushmail’s encrypted email service but they’d like to continue using their old email accounts as well.

Hushmail is not a plug-in

What we tell them is that Hushmail is not a plug-in but a stand-alone email service provider, just like Gmail, AOL, or Yahoo. The difference between Hushmail and these other providers is that encryption is built into our system. This provides you with a secure email solution that’s easy to set up (all you have to do is sign up) and easy to use.

The only way to use Hushmail is with a Hushmail account

To use Hushmail you either need to have a Hushmail email account on one of our domains or, as we explained in a recent post, if you own your own domain you must move your email hosting to us. In this case, you would stop using your last email provider, and all of your email would come and go through Hushmail.

You can move existing email to Hushmail

Just because you’re moving to a Hushmail account doesn’t mean you have to abandon your old email entirely. If you consider it important to have your email in one place, you can migrate your old email messages to your Hushmail account. This can be accomplished using most desktop email applications such as Outlook or Mac Mail. Instructions on how to do this are located here.

You can also set up forwarding from your previous email service to your Hushmail account which is similar to setting up a forwarding address with the post office when you move.

Your email is hosted on Hushmail servers

As a stand-alone email service, we host your email on our own servers located in Vancouver, Canada. As we discussed in a recent post about data storage, this gives our customers the benefit of knowing exactly where their data is at any time and yields greater security when it comes to handling web vulnerabilities.

Streamlined and easy to use

Hushmail webmail and the Hushmail for iPhone app provide streamlined, intuitive interfaces that makes your email decisions simple and efficient. There’s nothing extra that you need to add on. We make it easy to start emailing as soon as you sign up for a Hushmail account. And of course, we also give you the benefit of adding encryption simply by checking a box.

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