Protecting your data
How to send us your personal information securely
Sometimes you might need to send Vitality an email and documents that contain your personal data, medical data or special category data. These include an invoice for treatment, results of a health check or evidence of activities to earn Vitality points.
Vitality uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect emails that we send. To make sure that your personal data reaches us securely we recommend that you send your email to us from an email provider that uses TLS.
What is Transport Layer Security (TLS)?
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is an encryption protocol used to protect data sent between computers. When two computers send data they agree to encrypt the information in a way they both understand. This protects the privacy of the data and minimises the risk of it being intercepted by a malicious individual.
How do I know if my email provider uses TLS?
Most email providers are able to use TLS and will give you the option to use TLS on all emails. This means they will try to create an encrypted connection, but if they can’t they’ll send it unencrypted.
You can usually find out if your provider uses TLS by checking the ‘security’ section of your email settings. You can also take a look at their ‘help’ section or contact them through their customer support channels.
We’ve also included links to advice pages from some of the most popular email providers below: