Setup

Connecting your email address

To get started with c.Email, choose the existing email address you’d like to connect. You’ll be automatically prompted to log in via your email provider’s portal. 

Downloading and installing

You can download the c.Email iOS app via the App Store, and the Android app via the Google Play Store. c.Email is also available via Chrome extension, which you can install via the Chrome Web Store. 

Proving your identity

Next, create your decentralised identity document (DID) by completing our quick, one-time identity check. You’ll need to do this to send encrypted and authenticated emails, because c.Email signs emails with your DID to prove to your recipients that you are who you say you are.  To do this, scan your ID’s photo page and NFC chip (either on the front or back of your passport) when prompted, then pass our liveness check. You can skip this step and do it later, but you’ll need to complete it to send Secure or For Your Eyes Only emails.  You can use a passport or national identity card to prove your identity, as long as it contains a biometric chip. This is because we need to read the data in this chip to store cryptographic proofs of your identity attributes. You can use an expired ID to prove your identity and send authenticated emails in c.Email – however, some future features may require you to have an in-date ID.  Once you have confirmed your identity, we link your email address to your public verification key and public encryption key via a smart contract executed on our blockchain (the C-layer). When you send or receive an email, c.Email corresponds with the C-layer to retrieve the relevant public key to encrypt or authenticate it. Your private decryption key remains on your device at all times. 

Syncing with the Chrome extension

Once you’ve done this, you first need to set up a passkey. This encrypts the database containing your private keys for encrypting and authenticating emails, which remains on your browser and nowhere else. The extension will prompt you to do this.  After creating your passkey, you’re ready to sync your private keys. To do this:  1. Open c.Email on your phone (the QR code won’t work with your camera app). 2. Tap Account details in the bottom right.  3. Tap Link device.  4. Scan the QR code.  You can now start using c.Email in your browser.  Only you can sync your keys – if someone else tried to scan your QR code, they’d have to prove ownership of your email address. If you cannot scan the QR code, this is because you need to log in and prove ownership of your chosen email address first.  All information exchanged between your browser and the c.Email app is encrypted. We don’t have access to this data or the key to decrypt it.

Adding new email addresses

You can add new email addresses to c.Email at any time, with no limit on the number you use.  To do this, go to your inbox and click on the button in the top right corner. This will take you to the ‘My email accounts’ screen. Click the ‘Add account’ button, choose the email you’d like to add, and authenticate via your email provider.  You will be prompted to confirm your identity via face unlock when adding a new email – this is to make sure we can link the email address with the information established when you initially confirmed your identity.