Security and encryption model
How VaelMail protects your mail, and what it does not
Mail is encrypted on disk and in backups, you can seal stored mail with a key only you hold, and OpenPGP is end-to-end in the browser. Email between providers is still readable by the servers it passes through, and this page says where each protection stops.
The protections, layer by layer
| Layer | What it protects | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Encrypted disks and backups | Stored mail if a disk or backup is taken. Backups are encrypted before they leave the server. | The running server can read mail it is serving. Deleted mail can remain in backups until they expire. |
| Encrypted mailbox (optional) | Stored mail and the search index, sealed with a mailbox key VaelMail never stores. | Mail from other providers reaches the server before it is sealed, and the server decrypts in memory while you are signed in and unlocked. |
| OpenPGP in the browser | The message body, end to end, when the other person also uses OpenPGP. | Subjects and addresses of ordinary email are not part of the encrypted body. |
| Transport security | Mail in transit between servers that support TLS. | Not every other provider does, and it does not protect mail from the servers at either end. |
| Sign-in by account number | No password to guess, phish or reuse, and no recovery email to hijack. | Whoever holds the number can try to sign in, so add a second factor. |
The encrypted mailbox
The encrypted mailbox is optional and free. When you turn it on, your stored mail and your search index are encrypted with a mailbox key. VaelMail does not store that key and cannot recover it. If you lose it, the mail encrypted with it is gone.
Turn it on only if you accept that trade. While it is on, moving mail needs the mailbox unlocked, snooze is unavailable, and mail apps that use app passwords cannot read your mail. Backups made before you turned it on keep the readable copy until they expire. How the encrypted mailbox works.
What this does not protect
- VaelMail is not zero-knowledge. Mail from other providers arrives at the server first, and the server decrypts in memory while you are signed in and unlocked.
- Some metadata is visible to the server: dates, sizes, folders and delivery addresses.
- Ordinary email between providers is not end-to-end encrypted. Only OpenPGP messages between two people who both use it are.
- If someone has your account number and your second factor, they can sign in as you.
Keeping your account safe
Add an authenticator app and passkeys as second factors and save the recovery codes. VaelMail sends a sign-in alert when a new device signs in, with a one-time link to report it, and the panic lock signs you out everywhere and revokes app passwords straight away. A security checkup page shows your protections in one place.
What VaelMail keeps
VaelMail keeps what it needs to run the service for as long as it needs it. There are no advertising analytics, no fingerprinting and no session replay, and remote images in messages are blocked by default. The privacy policy lists every category with its retention schedule, and how VaelMail works follows your mail through the system.
Transparency
The warrant canary is a dated, PGP-signed statement renewed monthly after a manual review. A valid signature shows the statement is authentic and current; it is an attestation, not proof. The changelog records security changes as they ship, including a review of how data moves through the service in which 25 findings were fixed.
Found a vulnerability? Write to contact@vael.email. The security.txt file lists the contact and policy.
Access without JavaScript, over Tor and over I2P
The webmail also runs on a script-free site, a Tor onion address and an I2P address, so you can use it without running JavaScript. How the mirrors work.
Keep reading
Ready to try it?
Create an account and decide later whether you want the encrypted mailbox.