FormDesigner can encrypt form data. When encryption is on, every answer a visitor enters is encrypted before it is stored on our servers, and only you can read it, with your private encryption key. It is an extra level of protection for forms that collect personal or confidential data. FormDesigner is an online form builder, and encryption is one of its security features.
What is an encrypted form
An encrypted form is a form whose responses are stored in encrypted form, not as plain text. FormDesigner uses a pair of keys. The public key encrypts the answers when they are saved, and the private key, which only you hold, decrypts them when you open the results. Without the private key the stored data cannot be read, which is why you need to download it and keep it safe.
When to use encrypted forms
Encryption makes sense when a form collects data you would not want to leak: medical history, as in the Initial visit patient forms template, job applications and resumes, or legal and financial requests. For an ordinary contact form it is usually not needed, because encryption switches off several features (see the list below), for example exports and notifications that contain field values. Choose it when the privacy of the data matters more than those conveniences.
How to encrypt form data in FormDesigner
Only the owner of the form can turn encryption on. Open the settings of the form you need and find the separate section “Form encryption”.
Activate the switch “Enable form data encryption”. A pop-up window opens and tells you exactly which functions will be unavailable after encryption is activated. Click “Continue” to go to the verification step.
Enter your personal account password and click “Verify”. This is how the service makes sure the request comes from the owner.
Next, turn on the switch “I understand that if I lose my private encryption key, I will not be able to view the submitted forms”. After that you can create new encryption keys, provide your own public key, or select a public key you uploaded earlier.
Creating new encryption keys
To let FormDesigner create the keys, click “Create encryption keys for me”. Enter a name for the key, which will be shown in the list of keys, and click “Create a new key”.
On the next page, download your private encryption key and store it securely. Without this key you will not be able to see the decrypted data.
If you lose your private encryption key, there is no way to restore it and all data will remain encrypted.
When the key is downloaded, turn on “I confirm that I downloaded my private encryption key” and click “Enable encryption” for the form.
Use your own encryption keys
Advanced users can create the keys themselves and give us only the public key. In the terminal of a Unix-based system, run the following command to generate a private key file:
openssl genrsa -out rsa_2048_private.pem 2048
Then generate the public key from it:
openssl rsa -pubout -in rsa_2048_private.pem -out rsa_2048_public.pem
You now have two files: rsa_2048_private.pem is your private encryption key, and rsa_2048_public.pem is your public encryption key. Keep the private file to yourself.
Click “I’ll provide my public key”.
On the page that opens, enter a name and select the public key file to upload to our server. For your safety, also turn on “I confirm that I have a private encryption key”, then click “Upload key”.
After the public key is uploaded, click “Enable encryption” for the form.
How to decrypt form data
From now on, all answers are stored in encrypted form, and you need your private key to read them. Open the “Statistics” tab: you will be asked for your private encryption key.
Activate the switch “Enable form data encryption”. A pop-up window opens and tells you exactly which functions will be unavailable after encryption is activated. Click “Continue” to go to the verification step.
Enter your personal account password and click “Verify”. This is how the service makes sure the request comes from the owner.
Next, turn on the switch “I understand that if I lose my private encryption key, I will not be able to view the submitted forms”. After that you can create new encryption keys, provide your own public key, or select a public key you uploaded earlier.
Creating new encryption keys
To let FormDesigner create the keys, click “Create encryption keys for me”. Enter a name for the key, which will be shown in the list of keys, and click “Create a new key”.
On the next page, download your private encryption key and store it securely. Without this key you will not be able to see the decrypted data.
If you lose your private encryption key, there is no way to restore it and all data will remain encrypted.
When the key is downloaded, turn on “I confirm that I downloaded my private encryption key” and click “Enable encryption” for the form.
Use your own encryption keys
Advanced users can create the keys themselves and give us only the public key. In the terminal of a Unix-based system, run the following command to generate a private key file:
openssl genrsa -out rsa_2048_private.pem 2048
Then generate the public key from it:
openssl rsa -pubout -in rsa_2048_private.pem -out rsa_2048_public.pem
You now have two files: rsa_2048_private.pem is your private encryption key, and rsa_2048_public.pem is your public encryption key. Keep the private file to yourself.
Click “I’ll provide my public key”.
On the page that opens, enter a name and select the public key file to upload to our server. For your safety, also turn on “I confirm that I have a private encryption key”, then click “Upload key”.
After the public key is uploaded, click “Enable encryption” for the form.
How to decrypt form data
From now on, all answers are stored in encrypted form, and you need your private key to read them. Open the “Statistics” tab: you will be asked for your private encryption key.
Select the key file and click “Next”. If you work on your own computer, you can turn on “Save the private key in the browser” so you do not have to enter it every time, but do not use this on a shared computer. If the key is correct, you will see the decrypted data in the table.
What does not work with encrypted forms
Because all data is stored encrypted, some functions of the form builder are unavailable or work differently:
- Field macros on the success page and in email and SMS notifications
- Integration modules, which would pass on encrypted data, so it is better to turn them off, and logic rules in integration modules
- The print and PDF page
- Export of data to Excel and CSV
- Guest access and the link to edit a submission
- Saving data when the visitor goes to the next page
- Search for submissions in Statistics by form fields
- Results as a bar graph and a chart
Turning encryption off
You can disable encryption later, but everything that was collected while it was on stays encrypted, so keep your private key.
