Origo, the not-for-profit fintech, says there has been a 33 per cent increase in registrations for the service, with 2,000 people signing up in both March and April, as firms get themselves ready for GDPR which takes effect from 25thMay 2018.
Unipass Securemail is an encrypted email service that now has 75,800 registered users and is provided free to financial advisers and their staff.
The service can be accessed via a plug-in to Microsoft Outlook, or via a web browser using Identity Based Encryption. The only thing that is needed to be known to send securely is the email address of the recipient. Essentially, it is only one click more than the normal email process.
Origo managing director Anthony Rafferty says: “It would seem that GDPR has raised awareness of the need for improved data security in the industry. Sending emails to clients, which may contain personal and sensitive information must be managed and delivered securely. Internal emails, where the email service is hosted externally, also need security as that means messages and documents are open to interception.”
“What we are seeing is that as well as advisers registering for the service, paraplanners, administration and IT staff are increasingly signing up too, enabling all messages sent externally and internally to be encrypted, and so reducing the risk to the business.
“With the increased scrutiny around personal data that comes with the imminent introduction of GDPR, in particular in respect of the security of that data, it simply makes sense for adviser firms to not only use an encrypted service like Unipass Securemail for client communications but also to ensure all of their staff use it to cover transmission of data and messaging between each other and offices.”
Advisers can register directly via the Unipass Securemail website: www.unipass.co.uk/securemail