PrivacyHarbor.com™

Frequently Asked Questions

New Registration

Q: What are the recommended system requirements?

A: There are no absolute minimum requirements, however, we have developed a list of system recommendations that are known to work. While the absolute minimum system requirements for using PrivacyHarbor® depend on your particular system configuration, PrivacyHarbor® will usually perform better on systems that are upgraded to the following standard.

Best Software for Most Users

Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7

Web Browser:

Internet Explorer (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Firefox (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Google Chrome (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Safari for Windows (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Anti-virus and Security Software:

avast!, AVG, or Antivir

Windows Defender

Windows Firewall

Macintosh OSX

Web Browser:

Safari for Mac(latest version) Click to download latest version.

Firefox (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Linux

Web Browser:

Firefox (latest version) Click to download latest version.

Recommended Hardware*

Processor: 1 GHz, or faster

RAM: 768 MB, or more

Video Card: Modern 2D graphics processor

Internet: High-speed

*Hardware recommendations are for optimal performance. Slower computers can use PrivacyHarbor with careful system maintenance.

Q: Can I communicate with non-PrivacyHarbor.com users?

A: Yes! PrivacyHarbor.com is fully compatible with common email providers. When you send a private message to a common email user, they receive a notification of your private message at their email address. The non-PrivacyHarbor.com user can click on the link in the notification to view and reply to your private message and can even sign up for a PrivacyHarbor.com email account of their own. You may send a message as a common, unsecure email with PrivacyHarbor.com that will appear exactly the same as any other email. More info on Send Messages as Common Email.

Q: Are my payment transactions secure?

A: Yes. PrivacyHarbor.com is verified by the largest 3rd party SSL certificate provider to secure all credit card transactions and transfers of personal information. This includes our registration and payment pages and all other pages in our secure web application. Your payments are processed and secured by one of the best known and most secure credit card processors.

Q: Does this site have a BBB membership?

A: Yes. View our Better Business Bureau listing.

Q: How is PrivacyHarbor different from other "common" email services?

A: Common Email is continually exposed to spam, identity theft, risks for children, phishing and other scams, competing business interests, and even security leaks from employees and contacts. It was never designed to protect business, legal, or any other sensitive communications running out over the Internet.

Private Email that's sent securely through PrivacyHarbor.com ensures that your email and personal information is kept private and secure, enabling you to easily take back your privacy online. With PrivacyHarbor.com, users compose a message to a recipient's email address just as they would with common email. The recipient then receives an email notification in their inbox and clicks a link to access the private message. PrivacyHarbor.com also offers users advanced features not offered by Common Email providers.

Q: How do I learn more about the features of my PrivacyHarbor account?

A: There are many different features offered for Basic, Personal and Executive email accounts through PrivacyHarbor.com. A full list of features for each email account type can be found on our features page.

Unregistered Users

Q: What is PrivacyHarbor.com?

A: PrivacyHarbor.com provides a set of patent-pending web applications clustered around private, web-based email accounts enabling users everywhere to take back their privacy.

Q: What is this notification I've received?

A: You've received a notification that you have a private message waiting for you on PrivacyHarbor.com. This private message was sent by the person identified in the notification. This person wants to communicate with you privately and not by common, non-secure email.

Q: How do I unsubscribe from you're mailing list?

A: PrivacyHarbor.com communicates with our customers through our newsletter and periodic email notifications. If you have registered for our newsletter and wish to no longer receive newsletter emails, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any PrivacyHarbor.com newsletter.

Q: I lost my email notification; can I still retrieve my private message?

A: You may retrieve private messages by sending an email to the PrivacyHarbor.com user who tried to contact you. Ask them to use the "resend" message feature (PrivacyHarbor.com users can use this feature by clicking on the original sent message and then clicking the "resend" button). Once the message has been resent to your email address, you can click on the email in your inbox and follow the link within the email to view your private message.

Q: Can I send private messages as an unregistered user?

A: Yes. When PrivacyHarbor.com users send an unregistered user a private message, the unregistered user receives a notification in their inbox, then clicks a link to read and reply to the private message. If an unregistered user would like to send private messages to others, they can do so by registering for a free Basic Account.

Q: Why do I need to click on the photos to read a PrivacyHarbor message?

A: To ensure that email conversations between common email users and PrivacyHarbor users remain private, common email users must click on the notification they receive in their inbox, click on the link in the notification and then login securely to PrivacyHarbor.com to view the private message.

Part of this secure login process involves clicking on a series of photos. This process is similar to typing in “CAPTCHAs” or the lists of letters, words and phrases you might see on other websites, only PrivacyHarbor uses photos to speed up the process while still preventing spammers and robots from trying to login and view private messages.

Registered Users

Q: Should I turn off my Pop-up blocker to use PrivacyHarbor.com?

A: PrivacyHarbor.com only requires the use of pop-ups when accessing our Chat Support feature inside the private email application. If you would like to use the Chat Support feature, please use the following steps to disable your pop-up blocker for PrivacyHarbor.com:

When you first use PrivacyHarbor.com, you may see a bar at the top of your browser alerting you that pop-ups are blocked. Click on the alert and choose "always allow pop-ups from www.PrivacyHarbor.com." To allow pop-ups in the future, add www.PrivacyHarbor.com to your browser’s list of websites to allow:

In Internet Explorer ©, go to Tools> Pop-up Blocker> Pop-up Blocker Settings. Enter www.PrivacyHarbor.com and click "add." You should also visit Microsoft© for more information about their pop-up blocker software.

In Firefox ©, go to Tools> Options> Contents. Find the "Block pop-up windows" check box and click the "Exceptions" button. Enter www.PrivacyHarbor.com and click "Allow." You should also visit Mozilla Firefox© for more information about their pop-up blocker software.

If you use another pop-up blocker, please consult that software’s help files to find out how to allow pop-ups for PrivacyHarbor.com.

Q: Where do I go to check my messages?

A: To check new messages, click on the "Messages" envelope icon at the top of the page, or the "All Messages" and "Inbox" links on the left navigation panel. To view messages you have sent click on the "All Messages" link or the "Sent" link on the left panel. To check new messages that have been filtered by the SnapGuard™ Pre-inbox Filter, click on the "SnapGuard™" envelope icon at the top of the page. You can also view email drafts you have created and messages that you have deleted by clicking on the "Drafts" and "Trash" links on the left panel.

Q: Why should I upgrade my account?

A: All Private Email accounts through PrivacyHarbor.com come with many great features. Upgrading a free Basic account to one of our paid accounts offers more value for your money and allows you access to advanced features not accessible to a Basic Account user.

When upgrading to a Personal Account you have all the Basic Account features and Personal Advanced Features. Your storage increases to 5 GB. You may send and receive an unlimited amount of private or common emails with attachments up to 100 MB (Basic accounts only allow 60 unsecure messages and attachements up to 10 MB). You set up messages to be sent later and retract ones you have already sent. You will have the ability to know when a private message you sent was read by the recipient(s). Our process makes your transition to private email easy, ensuring that you don't lose new emails from your existing contacts. You will also have access to eBusiness cards. The Personal Account is perfect for people who want to be in total control of their email.

When you upgrade to an Executive Account, you have all the Personal Account features as well as advanced Executive features. Your storage limit increases to 10G. Organizing your business communications becomes easier with pre-selected folders for messages and contacts. And you have access to premium support. The Executive Account is as fully-featured as any email service. Add the fact that PrivacyHarbor.com offers state of the art privacy and security to your email and you have the best email service on the market today.

For a comparison of the features in the different accounts go to the Subscription Tab of your PrivacyHarbor.com email or click here.

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Q: What are the benefits of sending private secured email?

A: Common email was never designed to protect sensitive communications. It is continually exposed to everything from spam and identity theft to competing business interests and security leaks from employees.

By sending private, secure email messages through PrivacyHarbor.com, you ensure that your email and personal information is kept private and safe. With PrivacyHarbor.com, users compose a message to a recipient's email address just as they would with common email. The recipient then receives an email notice in their inbox. The notice tells them that they have a message waiting for them with a link to access it. The recipient then clicks the link in the notice to get to the private message. It is so easy to use you will never go back to using common non-private email again.

Q: How do I keep my existing email address from my company or organization when registering for a PrivacyHarbor account?

A: Users interested in keeping their existing company or organization email address can do so during the registration process for an Executive account. Follow the steps of the online registration process at PrivacyHarbor.com and choose a new username at privacyharbor.com. Once you are registered, contact PrivacyHarbor Support at: 360.906.8111 and give us your PrivacyHarbor username and the existing email address you wish to use with our service to complete the process. Companies and organizations can have their email hosting transfered completely to our service.

Q: How do I compose a message using my PrivacyHarbor.com Private Email account?

A: Click on the "Compose Message" link just below the "Messages" envelope icon at the top of the page. On the Compose Message page you will see many of the same options you can find on a common email account including a "To:" field to enter the email address(es) of your recipient(s), a "Subject:" field to enter the subject or title of your message, as well as a text editor box to enter and customize the content of your message. You can add carbon copy email recipients and blind carbon copy recipients using the "Add Cc" and "Add Bcc" links on the page. A PrivacyHarbor.com private email account offers other features such as a checkbox that selects whether your email will be as Private or common Email and the ability to flag priority messages. Personal and Executive advanced features allow you to assign the composed email to a folder and see when recipients have read the messages you send as well as the option to delay and retract your sent messages, and more.

Q: How do I send "Private Email" v.s. unsecure "Common Email"?

A: Email is automatically sent out as private email, however if you would like to send an unsecure common email you can do so by deselecting the checkbox next to the "Private Email" icon at the top of your composed email. A "Common Email" icon will then appear where the Private Email icon was to show you that your message is no longer private.

Q: Why can I only send 60 unsecure common email messages per month with a Basic Account?

A: Basic Accounts are permitted to send up to 60 unsecure common email message per month. This encourages you to send messages privately. The more you use private email, the safer you, your private information and your system are from spam, hackers, scams and identity theft. Our Personal and Executive Accounts do not restrict the sending private or Common Email.

Q: How do I install and use the Beacon Desktop Email Notifier?

A: Installation of the Beacon Desktop Email Notifier is quick and easy:

Step 1: Visit the "Downloads" page on PrivacyHarbor.com.

Step 2: Click on the “Download for Windows” button to download the Beacon Notifier for Windows 2000, XP or Vista (Note: Mac OS X is currently unsupported), save the file to your computer then open it to start the installation process.

Click here for more details on downloading, installing, setting up the Beacon Notifier.

Q: know that my email messages are private and secure?

A: PrivacyHarbor guarantees the privacy and security of its users through our Our TOTAL Privacy Commitment.

Q: How do I cancel my account?

A: All new subscribers will receive a no-obligation, 1 month free trial period, applicable to any PrivacyHarbor private email account. Subscribers of any account type can cancel within the first month of a new registration without paying for the service (Basic Accounts are always free). You may cancel your account by contacting customer support via private message through your PrivacyHarbor email account.

Once your billing begins you may cancel your account by contacting customer support via email at support@privacyharbor.com.(Note: There are no refunds for monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscription payments or additional storage purchased prior to canceling the account.) Please indicate if you wish to cancel your account or just switch to a free PrivacyHarbor.com Basic Account. We will send you an email confirmation that your account status has been changed. Cancellations must be sent no later than 24 hours before your 1 month trial period ends to cancel without paying for your Personal or Executive PrivacyHarbor email account registration. If you are experience problems logging into your account, please contact our customer support line at 360.906.8111.

Account Features

About PrivacyHarbor Email Accounts

PrivacyHarbor.com email accounts are a little different than other webmail services. With PrivacyHarbor.com, email accounts are totally private and are not supported by advertising. Users can check their PrivacyHarbor inbox by logging in. They can also install our convenient "Desktop Email Notifier" that notifies users when new private message arrive.

Secure, Encrypted Messages

Private messaging sets PrivacyHarbor.com apart from common webmail accounts and requires no software or encryptions keys. They can be sent to anyone that uses Common Email, so you can carry on a conversation in total privacy. The recipient of your message receives an invitation by common email to view the private message and with one click they are taken to an SSL encrypted webpage to view the message. When both parties are using PrivacyHarbor.com private email, the content of your message never leaves the safety of our servers.

Message "Status"

The Message Status feature is a lot like a return receipt, the Message "Status" feature allows you to see when recipients have opened the messages you send. You can view status of your sent messages by looking at the "Status" column on the right of your "All Messages" and "Sent Folders" or by clicking the "View Status" button in the thread view of your sent messages and message replies.

Contacts (Your Address Book)

PrivacyHarbor.com has a "Contacts" tab where you can store all your email contacts. Your contact list can also be imported from Outlook, Outlook Express, and other applications that export a contact list as a comma-separated value, or ".CSV" file. If you have a Personal and Executive account you can also automatically organize emails and contacts with pre-selected folders. Followups and new emails from that contact will be automatically placed in the folder.

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Importing Contacts into Your Contact List

Exporting: Importing contacts from an old email provider is simple. Here are a few easy steps to export them from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL:

• Gmail:
  
  1. Login
  2. Click on the "Contacts" link
  3. Click the "Export" link at the top right of the page.
  4. On the Export page, select either the "Only" or the "Everyone" radio button then select the radio button below that says "Outlook's CSV format (for importing into Outlook or other applications)" then click the
     "Export" button.
     
  5. You will then be prompted to save the file to your computer (Make sure the file is saved in the ".CSV" file format). Choose a location for your file (like your desktop) that will be easy to locate when you are ready to import your contacts into your PrivacyHarbor.com account.


• Yahoo:
  
  1. Login
  2. Click on the "Contacts" tab
  3. Click on the "Import/Export" link at the top right of the page.
  4. Click the "Export Now" button next to the phrase "Microsoft Outlook."
  5. You will then be prompted to save the file to your computer (Make sure the file is saved in the ".CSV" file format). Choose a location for your file (like your desktop) that will be easy to locate when you are ready to import your contacts into your PrivacyHarbor.com account.


• Hotmail:
  
  1. Login
  2. Click on the "Contacts" tab
  3. Highlight all the contents in the table on the Contacts page (including the headings "Name," "Email" and "Phone" and all your contacts), then press Ctrl-C (Windows), Command-C (Mac) or Alt-C (Linux) to copy
     the table.
  4. Open a spreadsheet program on your computer (like Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org). Create a new spreadsheet then select "Edit / Paste" from the drop down menu at the top of the program.
  5. You may need to edit your spreadsheet and make sure there are no rows that have an empty email column. When you’re finished editing, select "File / Save As" from the drop down menu.
  6. You will then be prompted to save the file to your computer (Make sure the file is saved in the ".CSV" file format). Choose a location for your file (like your desktop) that will be easy to locate when you are ready to import your contacts into your PrivacyHarbor.com account.


• AOL:
  Note – There is currently no functionality on AOL that allows you to manually "Export" your address book. Aside from calling AOL directly and asking for assistance or manually inputting your contacts into a blank .CSV file to import later, you can also try the following steps:
  1. Login to AOL then make a new group that contains all the contacts you want to export.
  2. Send an email to that group, making sure to carbon copy (cc) your new PrivacyHarbor.com email account. (This would be a great opportunity to include a message announcing that you have just switched over to a new private email account at PrivacyHarbor.com).
  3. Login to your PrivacyHarbor.com account, open the email you carbon copied to yourself and then click the "reply all" button. You will need to send a reply email to your contacts confirming that this is the new PrivacyHarbor.com email address you had mentioned in your previous email (or insert any other private message you want), then click the "send" button. A window will show up after your message has been sent asking you if you want to add your contacts to your Contacts list. Click the "select all" link or the individual checkboxes next to each email address then click the "Add Contacts" button. Once your contacts have been added, they will have the word "added" in green text show up next to their email address.


• Other Email Providers: Please check with your email provider’s FAQ page, online support resources or contact their support representatives for information on exporting your contacts.

Importing: For all major providers (except AOL)

1. After you have exported your contacts into a .CSV file, login to your PrivacyHarbor.com account, click the "Contacts" tab, and then click the "import" link.
2. You will then be asked to browse your computer for your .CSV file. Click the "browse" button, select your file then click the "open" button.
3. You should see a preview of all the contacts that will be added. If everything looks ok, click the "import" button then the "done" button and you’re finished!

Don’t forget to remind your contacts to update their address books with your new PrivacyHarbor.com email address. You can also send them a private email inviting them to try PrivacyHarbor.com for free by signing up for a
Basic Account.

Email Attachments and Storage

Each account type comes with a different amount of storage for messages and attachments. Basic Accounts provide you with with 500 MB, Personal Accounts come with 5 GB, and Executive Accounts include 10 GB of storage. Personal and Executive accounts allow up to 100 MB attachments in sent messages (Basic accounts only allow attachments up to 10 MB).

Owners of Personal and Executive accounts may purchase additional memory for $5.00 a month per 5 GB. To order more storage, click on the "Subscription" tab at the top of the page in your email account, then click the "Storage" button.

SnapGuard™ Pre-inbox Filter

SnapGuard keeps your attachments free from viruses, and more importantly, keeps spam out of your inbox. SnapGuard works by first catching spam and sending it to the "Trash" folder. All other suspicious messages and email from unknown senders are held in the SnapGuard folder until you chose to:

1. Accept it (the sender is accepted and will always go to your inbox)
2. Discard it (It is sent to "Trash")
3. Mark as "spam" (the message content is analyzed and messages from the same sender, or very similar senders, go to "Trash")

Once a message is sent to the Trash folder, it is held for 7 days and then permanently deleted The first time someone sends you an email it will go directly into your SnapGuard™ folder. Once you have accepted their message all subsequent messages from that email address will go directly into your inbox and will also be accessible under the "All Messages" log).

Personal Folders

Messages can be assigned to several folders. These are not copies of the message. The same message appearing in multiple places. If you modify or delete the message, the changes will show up in all places.

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Settings

User Info

To add to or edit your user information click on the "Settings" tab at the top of the page, then click on the "User Info" link on the left navigation panel. On the User Info page you can add and edit your name, security question, address, and telephone number. When you are finished adding or editing your information, click the "save" link at the bottom of the page to update your information or the "cancel" link to keep your previous information.

eBusiness Cards

To create or edit your personal eBusiness card, click on the "Settings" tab at the top of the page. Then click on the "eBusiness Card" link on the left navigation panel. On the eBusiness Card page, you can add and edit your name, address, telephone, personal photo, and business card template. When you are finished making changes to your eBusiness card click the "save" link at the bottom of the page or the "cancel" link to keep your previous eBusiness card details

Basic accounts only offer limited customization of your eBusiness Card. Personal and Executive Accounts provide fully customizable templates and editable features).

Preferences

To edit your email preferences, click on the "Settings" tab at the top of the page, then on the "Preferences" link on the left navigation panel. You can update your notification email address(es), your signatures for private messages and common messages, your options for composing email messages, and your page size (the number of messages shown per page). When you are finished editing your preferences, click the "save" link at the bottom of the page or the "cancel" link to keep your previous preferences.

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About PrivacyHarbor

Summary and Mission

PrivacyHarbor.com is a patent pending service owned by PrivacyHarbor, Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in Vancouver, Washington. PrivacyHarbor.com is PrivacyHarbor, Inc.™'s flagship service, hosted on company-owned servers at a large, national-class high-speed secure hosting facility in Beaverton, Oregon. PrivacyHarbor.com is also a Better Business Bureau accredited business and our full BBB report can be found at http://www.bbb.org.

PrivacyHarbor offers a private and secure email service, providing a safe place where users can control and manage their online communications. Our mission is to Empower Internet users to easily protect and take control of their private information.

Who uses PrivacyHarbor email accounts?

PrivacyHarbor provides private, secure email for personal users, small and single person businesses, and organizations.

Basic email accounts are perfect for:

• Communicating privately with personal and business contacts - We're not advertiser-supported. That means no ads, no marketing partners - just 100% privacy and security.
• Eliminating unwanted messages from reaching your inbox - We protect your email account from spam, scams and identity theft.
• Accessing email online safely and easily - We don’t use complicated encryption keys. You can now have secure Private Email that is easy and safe to use.

Personal email accounts are perfect for:

• People who are concerned about their privacy - We're not advertiser-supported. That means no ads, no marketing partners - just 100% privacy and security.
• People who want full control of their email - See when someone reads your message, retract a message you sent in error, create your custom eBusiness Card and so much more.
• People on the go - You can now get private and secure email wherever you have Internet access.

Executive email accounts are perfect for:

• Independent Travelers Secure, remote-accessible servers for confidential communications are a must for people on the go.
• When you want to keep your personal or business address Give us a call and we’ll show you how to get our executive email service without changing your email address.
• When you need premium service Tons of storage, premium phone support, email, chat and inline help.

How does PrivacyHarbor email work?

Sending email messages to unregistered users:

Our private, secure messaging sets PrivacyHarbor.com apart from other common email providers as we require no software or "encryption keys." This makes sending a private message as easy as sending Common Email.

With PrivacyHarbor, users can send private, secure email in 3 easy steps:

Step 1: You send the message.

A PrivacyHarbor.com user composes a private message to an unregistered user's common email address just as they would with common email.

Step 2: Recipient clicks the notification.

The recipient will receive a notification in their email inbox telling them that they have a message waiting for them with a link to access it. The recipient then clicks the link in the notification to get to the private message.

Step 3: Recipient reads the message.

The recipient is brought to the message on the PrivacyHarbor.com web servers. They are then able to read the message and reply privately.

Sending email messages to registered users:

Step 1: You send the message.

A PrivacyHarbor.com user composes a private message to another PrivacyHarbor user in the same manner that they would send an email to a common email user.

Step 2: Recipient logs in and views the message.

The email recipient logs into their PrivacyHarbor.com email account, clicks on the “messages” tab then clicks on the new private message. If the recipient has never received a message from the sender of the email then the private message will show up in their SnapGuard folder and the recipient will have to click “Approve” to have the private message appear in their inbox.

Step 3: Recipient reads the message.

The recipient reads the message in their PrivacyHarbor inbox and can then reply to the message, forward it, delete it, print it out, or save it to their computer.

For more details visit our “How It Works” page.

How are email advertisements hurtful?

How advertisements hurt personal users:

Common email services like Google, Hotmail, and YMail mine the private information of their users to target these users with advertisements, invading their privacy online. These so-called “free” webmail services also do very little to prevent spam, scam and viruses from entering a user’s inbox. While many email advertisements and spam received through inboxes are from legitimate businesses, some of these emails can be from fraudulent companies that may be looking to steal your identity and your money.

How advertisements hurt businesses:

Business users have a clear commercial interest in their communications. Given the choice, most businesses would prefer that corporate knowledge (i.e. email content) remain exclusively in the service of their commercial interests, but with common email these communications are often repurposed by web media companies for their competitor’s advertisements.

How come PrivacyHarbor email accounts don’t display advertisements? How do they make a profit?

PrivacyHarbor is in the privacy business – not the advertising business. Our first commitment is to helping our customers take back their privacy online. We offer both free and paid private accounts for our users and provide a number of features not offered by common, advertising-driven email services.

With PrivacyHarbor.com, users can protect their email communications from targeted advertisements that invade their privacy and expose them to spam, scams and viruses. In addition, businesses can use PrivacyHarbor.com to protect their commercial interests by preventing your eNewsletters, email marketing campaigns and private messages from being repurposed by web-media companies for competitive advertisements directed toward their customers.

Subscription

The Subscription page provides PrivacyHarbor.com private email users with information about their current subscription details, as well as the option to upgrade to other private email accounts and purchase additional features including more storage.

In-line Help

In-Line Help provides pop-up windows with additional information about all the key features of a PrivacyHarbor.com private email account. To activate in-line help in your email account, click on the "?" icon at the top right of the page.

Customer Support

Customer Support for registration and billing issues is available via online chat or private message to all accounts. Phone is considered a premium service and is only available to Executive users. This is because we take time to help you use our application on your system, whether it takes 5 minutes or an hour. We can also remotely diagnose problems with your software and can schedule convenient appointments for tutorial sessions or support.

If you have additional questions or need assistance while using your email account, you can contact customer support via online chat, send customer support a private message or view the FAQ page by clicking the "Support" link in the upper-right corner of the page in your email account. We will respond promptly and personally to solve your problem. (Note: Executive Account users can also find our premium technical support phone number by clicking on the "Support" link in their email account.)