Douglas Borough Council uses the industry standard SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) 128 bit encryption to scramble sensitive information while it is in transit.

The encryption is based on a key with two parts. The public part is transmitted to the user to encrypt the personal information before it is transmitted. If this information is intercepted it is almost impossible to decrypt. Once the information is received by the Council it is decrypted using the private part of the key.

Your browser security preference settings are your first line of defence. You can configure the browser to alert you as you change between secure and insecure transmissions or if you receive an invalid site identification for the site to which you are about to transmit or if you are sending a transmission over an unsecured connection.

An unbroken key or closed padlock icon will appear in the bottom border of most browsers to indicate that SSL security is in operation. Clicking on the icon will display the digital certificate associated with the secure connection. This digital certificate is intended to guarantee the identity of the remote computer to which you are sending your details.