AdminCustomer side encryption (CSE), a measure to protect and control access to personal or business information Gmail.
IN blog post (opens in a new tab) In announcing the news, the tech giant notes that while Google Workspace already encrypts data using secure crypto libraries, CSE gives Workspace users and administrators “total control” over their crypto keys and data access.
Simply put, this should mean that no one can read the message you sent emails or calendar entries, but those in the organization and the recipient.
Gmail encryption history
How Edge (opens in a new tab) notes that Google is trying to bring CSE to Gmail since 2014 (opens in a new tab).
In these wonderful days of aftermath Edward Snowden Revealed completely legal and constitutional (*crossed behind*) surveillance programs of the US National Security Agency (NSA) meant that data Privacy protection was in the mind of the whole world.
The leading encryption solution at the time was Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), an open source standard that lasted for twenty years at the time, being completely unintuitive for the end user who, for example, would not be able to reset a forgotten password because not even Google would keep them in file.
Google made CSE available to other Workspace applications in October 2022, including Drive cloud storage, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and Meet video conferencing software.
CSE is finally coming to Gmail, Google Calendar and the entire range of Workspace apps, suggesting that a golden mean has been found. Those who work in privacy-dependent industries also seem optimistic.
“Client-side encryption gives us a higher level of privacy to ensure the integrity of the journalistic process,” said Sacha Morard, chief technology officer of media conglomerate (and Google Workspace client) Groupe Le Monde.
“This allows us to provide a higher level of security for our journalists and protect our confidential content.”
