# aerc privacy rating

Terminal email client for Linux and macOS with IMAP, JMAP, Maildir and Notmuch support and PGP encryption through GnuPG.

## Summary

aerc scores 89 out of 100 (grade B) on the email clients criteria. It meets 7 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, OpenPGP support, connects directly, blocks remote content and works with any provider. It does not meet independent audit.

- Website: https://aerc-mail.org
- Source code: https://git.sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc
- Platforms: Linux, macOS
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [Email clients](https://privacyratings.com/email-clients/)
- Grade: B (89/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | MIT. | https://github.com/rjarry/aerc/blob/master/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Yes | No telemetry or analytics in the source code. | https://github.com/rjarry/aerc |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | Volunteer free software project. No ads. | https://aerc-mail.org |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| OpenPGP support | Yes | PGP signing, encryption and verification are built in through GnuPG. | https://aerc-mail.org |
| Connects directly | Yes | Connects directly to IMAP, JMAP and SMTP servers. No vendor service is involved. | https://aerc-mail.org |
| Blocks remote content | Yes | The default HTML filter renders mail with network access disabled. A separate html-unsafe filter must be chosen to load remote content. | https://github.com/rjarry/aerc/blob/master/filters/html |
| Works with any provider | Yes | Works with any IMAP, JMAP and SMTP provider. | https://aerc-mail.org |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/email-clients/aerc/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/email-clients/aerc.md