I’ve had some problems getting PGP just right in the past but Mailvelope, specifically their Firefox Plugin makes it super easy as it works within your current webmail.

PGP is essentially an encrypted Public Key + encrypted Private Key you create and another user creates to communicate privately. You write an email, encrypt it according to your distinct Private Key and the recipient’s Public Key. The recipient can only decrypt it by allowing their Private key plus their secure password to do so.

Mailvelope Step-by-Step

1. First, head to https://www.mailvelope.com/

2. Depending on your browser – Firefox or Chrome, download the extension and install.

3. Watch this setting up Mailvelope video tutorial:

4. Once you plug in your email and a highly secure password, you can then upload your Public Key to MIT’s Public Key Server (this isn’t essential, but nearly everyone does it for easier sharing). https://pgp.mit.edu/

 **YOUR PUBLIC KEY**

The public key looks like this:

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: SKS 1.1.5
Comment: Hostname: pgp.mit.edu

And ends with:

-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

5. After uploading, to get your shareable MIT link, you need to go back to https://pgp.mit.edu and search your Key ID.

6. To find that, go back into the Mailvelope Settings, I’ve highlighted with the red arrow.

 

Then, on the MIT site, plug into the search bar:
0x______________ and then your Key ID.