How do you email sensitive documents?

Horracce

So, I’m trying to open one of two accounts with building societies that only conduct things by branch / post .. in some cases they allow you to submit proof of identity by email.
 

My question is .. how do others approach this?  Are you comfortable with sending sensitive stuff by email or do you find safer / more secure ways around this ?

Thanks H

masonic

I would avoid it where possible, but most email is encrypted in flight (just not end to end or with a guarantee), so it is a calculated risk. I would use the least sensitive documents possible (e.g. utility bill and bank statement from a little used account).

I've never had any success using more secure ways of sharing (file sharing links etc).

jim1999

It's not that big a deal.  Issues are more often caused by mis-typing the email address - in which case things like encrypted documents with password sent via other means etc directly help.

I would not be particularly worried about sending some ID via email.  You can of course delete it from your sentbox afterwards, if you're worried about someone hacking your email in the future and gaining access that way.

Alexland

I had to email some payslips, a passport scan and bank statements to a regional building society as part of a mortgage application and used a password encrypted zip file where I told them the password on the phone. Zip might not use the highest grade of encryption but I figured it was probably good enough and it was important for me to get the mortgage at the time as they were the only lender willing to lend on the terms I wanted. If it was a financial product that was less important to me then I might decline to share by email and go elsewhere.

safe_hands2

Same here. I would password encrypt it before sending. It's your personal information and you have a right to protect it. If they're not happy with that I'd go elsewhere.

Stargunner

I would be comfortable sending the id without the need to password protect it.

flaneurs_lobster

I've had mixed results when sending sensitive data (usually copies of passport / driving licence / birth certs) to institutions by email. Some won't countenance any kind of password protection but others are happy to accept a protected PDF with a password provided by phone. Depends on how badly you want the product vs a small risk of ID fraud. 
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cloud_dog

As long as you encrypt the file(s) / folder using (at least) AES-256 bit encryption, with an appropriate password, e.g. not 1234 or Password then you will be fine. Ideally you would send the password via a different mechanism, e.g. sms or portal chat etc.

The potential issue with this is whether the receiving company's mail filter will a) treat it as spam / a threat (with the zipped file), or b) not allow the end use to open/decrypt it.  I (personally and my employer) uses 7-zip (it allows you to create the more common 'zip' files).

mebu60

Much prefer to send by email than post.