Businesses can apply to test out the client-side encryption feature for Gmail, which is meant to make sensitive data unreadable to the internet giant. In a post on Friday, the company said that administrators can sign up for the alpha until January 20.
Users of a workspace will have an option to use the web version of Gmail once the feature is enabled. Clicking on a padlock will allow them to turn on additional security for the message, though they will have to give up some features to do so. In an upcoming release, client-side security will be added to the Gmail app.
The feature isn't limited to just inter-office communications and will be managed by the company's administrators. You will be able to send emails that are not in your domain to people who use other email clients or providers, such as ones from Microsoft or Apple. S/MIME is an existing standard for email and is the reason for this, according to Richendrfer.
Adding more security to Gmail is something that has been worked on for a long time. There were reports in the past that it was working on end-to-end encryption for the service. According to a help document from the company, the client-side implementation gives administrators control over the keys and allows them to monitor users' files.
There are other products with client-side encryption. Last year, when the updated enterprise offerings were released, the feature was added to Drive. It is currently in a trial for calendar.
There are only a few customers who are allowed to participate in the Gmail beta right now. You can't try it out if you're on a personal account or a lower tier account.
It's probably best that it's limited to companies with IT departments at this point because the system currently relies on administrators using an API to upload certificates and encryption keys. If you would be willing to go through that kind of hassle, you can always use PGP within Gmail or sign up for a Proton Mail account.
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