On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 10:44:41AM -0400, Alfred M. Szmidt wrote: > so why then all these emails that say "Your signed PGP key" ? > I have no idea. I don't use this overly complicated scheme of > operation, nor do I know why people suggest it.
Both are possible. Sending an encrypted e-mail ensures that the person receiving it has control over the given e-mail account and is in possession of the private key linked to the public key that is being signed. So it ties in more closely the identity of the person, the key and, additionally, the e-mail address. That is why I prefer to send encrypted e-mails. Notice that once you have signed the key, instead of uploading it to a key server, you may as well extract it and send it by hand in an encrypted e-mail. Andreas
