Anyone know of a "private" email service? Should I host my personal mail locally?

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I'd like to do it as a project non the less but signed up to lavabit.com for a trial. The only downside is it's US based and even with all the encryption and decent terms and privacy policy they'll give up data if requested by the Government. I contacted them to ask what kind of data and if they are able to decrypt my mail but have received no response.

Thanks for the reply dude. :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

I've signed up and have been looking into it. The only downside I have is that it appears to be US based. The webmail is lacking but it'll give me a chance to try out a new email client or ten. :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks dude, You had no issues with spam? Do you have a secret? Hotmail wouldn't be much of an issue for me either :D Did you ever find out why though?

Thanks for the link too, I've not stopped reading about email in days lol. Following through the imaginary configs in my head because I don't have time to spin up a VM and test anything out.

I'm all for hosting it on a VPS too but just not Linode, I want to avoid US whenever possible :) I'm in the process of setting up a development box so I supposed there's no extra hosting costs. Cheers :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks dude. I'm more concerned about the privacy. Is it US owned and hosted? Is my mail and info safe?

I'll check it out in detail :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

de-Google is the perfect way to put it!!! :P

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks for the reply dude, you've given me another great point to think about. This is all just for personal mail so I'm not too bothered about it all, plus it would be a great learning experience.

Scary to think how much goes into ensuring the server is fully functional :|

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Pfft! Did a great job for someone who doesn't know :P Thanks! I'll definitely look into this even if it's just to know about it :D

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Damn!!!!!! Thanks for the info though :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks for the reply dude, I like the service they seem to offer but it's just lacking a few touches. It's a shame too, looks like a nice system.

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Domain Mapping is a bit requirement for me :D Thanks for pointing this out :D

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

lavabit looks great but it appears to be an American company. After everything I think i'd like to avoid the Ol' US of A like the plague.

The service itself seems 90% compatible with what I'm wanting but I think I'd rather host my own for security, reliability and being in complete control. Plus I love a challenge :D

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks dude!!! FriPost has a thing about wanting Swedish members. I'll try apply and see what happens anyway but it does look good.

I'm looking for a provider who will allow me to use my own domain name too. FriPost seems to allow it :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

I'll have to look into it in more depth then. Thanks dude. :)

How does the digital signing work and what is it's "technical" name?

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks for clearing that up :) Makes loads more sense now!

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Not a problem dude, you've been a great help!

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Lol! Point taken :|

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks dude! :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks for the link. If I use qmail I would still need Dovecot for the IMAP part?

If I use SMTP over POP3 would I need to ensure my ISP allows port outgoing traffic on port 25? Is there a big difference between the two?

I never realised how separate the sending and accessing of mail is. I guess a lot of these bits overlap. Would qmail alone suffice?

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

PGP as far as I am aware would require all my other contacts to use PGP to actually encrypt the email. Not too difficult as it's for personal email only but It's something I decided would be "backup" to look into. Is my understanding correct?

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Email I care about is mainly between family or the SO, so setting up the server would allow me to setup users for these people. It's a chance to look into the technical bits of email as well.

I would never attempt this for anything other than a personal project. :) Thanks dude.

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Why do you suggest qmail over any other setup?

When people talk about security and email is it just prevent people from accessing and sending mail from my server? Are there any other issues relating to email hosting?

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Postfix is the server part? Dovecot for allowing mail to be downloaded/accessed over IMAP?

I guess Postfix would be using POP3 to send the mail? Is it easy enough to set up SSL?

Is there a way to access my mail over a "webmail" interface?

Thanks for the info dude :) I'm really starting to consider going through with this. It would be for myself and maybe one or two other users. Nothing major. :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

Thanks dude! Where does the static IP come into it? Is it for the MX records or does the email server need to know what it's external IP is?

Also dude, any tips or advice? :)

privateemailanywhere · 3 months

I have access to a VPS with a static IP, I don't have much mail so that shouldn't be an issue. My concerns are more with dealing with spam, hacking attempts. Using SSL to login and download mail etc. How much work is it to setup and is maintaining it a difficult task?

Any pearls of wisdom? Anything you wish you'd have known in advance?

And finally, which email server do I use? I've got basic experience with setting up a send-only exim4 server. Postfix or Dovecot seem to be highly spoken of. Any suggestions?

privateemailanywhere

TROPHY CASE

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