Home → Using FormSpring → Security → Data Encryption
6.3. Data Encryption
You MUST enable data encryption if you are collecting sensitive data such as credit card or social security numbers and storing them in your FormSpring database. If you do not do this, you are violating our terms of service and your data is NOT secure.
When you setup your form to save data for later downloading and viewing, you can set a password to encrypt the data when stored in the FormSpring database. When you set a password, public and private keys are generated and stored with your form. The public key is used to encrypt the data when saved in the database. Your password encrypts the private key, which will be used to decrypt the data. Your encryption password is not saved on the server in plain text, so it's not possible for anyone to decrypt the information without knowing your encryption password.
To enable data encryption on your form:
- Click on the Settings tab for your form.
- Scroll down to Security.
- Enter a new password in the Encrypt Saved Data field. You will have to verify the password to continue.
If you do not see the Data Encryption option, your account plan does not give you access to those features.
Notes: You do not need to enable data encryption if you are not saving collected data in the database.
File attachments are not encrypted.
WARNING: It is important that you memorize or store this password in a safe place. If you lose this password, we will not be able to retrieve your data, which will be irrevocably lost.
Every week, people call and e-mail us asking us to reset their encryption passwords. We have no way of doing this without deleting all of your data on the encrpyted form, so please, remember your password or your data will be lost.
Hint: For those who have forgotten your password, it is at least 8 characters long and contains at least one non-alphabetic character.