3 ways to protect your information when sending an email Ken Colburn QUESTION: What’s the best way to protect documents with sensitive information that I have to send via email? ANSWER: There was a time when the fax machine was a simple way to transmit sensitive information from one party to another with very little risk beyond sending it to the wrong number. These days, you’ll often be asked to use email to transmit sensitive information, which requires a little more thought before doing so. Email used to be very risky, because intermediaries could easily view messages, but with the implementation of encryption for most email systems, it’s a little more secure.