FAQs – Advice for Recipients
Cafcass has introduced new software called Egress Switch, which facilitates the secure transfer of
emails and documents to non-secure email addresses. This is beneficial when emailing service users,
solicitors firms and other agencies that are not on a secure network, ensuring Cafcass meets security
and data protection requirements.
Why is Cafcass using Egress Switch?
Egress Switch allows Cafcass staff to securely send confidential information to external email
accounts (including Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail). The nature of the work we carry out with children
and families means that we often deal with information that is sensitive, which we wouldn’t want to
fall into the wrong hands. Measures such as secure postal services have been in place for some time
now. However we are increasingly sending information by email, as this is quicker and more
convenient for the families and other agencies we work with. We’ve therefore introduced an easy to
use piece of software that will help ensure that any information sent by email is secure.
Is Egress Switch free to use for service users and other recipients?
Yes. All recipients can view and securely reply to emails sent via Egress Switch from Cafcass for free.
How do recipients view Egress encrypted emails?
On their first use only, recipients will be required to create an Egress account before they can sign in
to view the email they’ve received. This is a short and simple process. Creating an account requires
input of an email address and the creation of a password. Once this is done, an activation code will
be sent to that email address. Recipients will then be able to sign in. This will allow Egress encrypted
emails to be viewed. A step-by-step guide for this process can be found here.
Can multiple people view the email once it is decrypted?
In general, emails can only be viewed by the original recipient. However, ‘access settings’ can be
amended to allow others read access. This is useful in the case of group mailboxes, or where a
solicitor needs to grant read access to colleagues or assistants. Information on how to make these
changes can be found here.
Can CJSM accounts still be used by partner agencies?
Yes. However we would encourage partner agencies to cease using the CJSM accounts in favour of
Egress because of the various issues experienced with the CJSM accounts (small mailbox sizes,
licensing costs).
Can Egress Switch be used on a mobile phone or tablet?
Yes. Egress Switch has a mobile website to enable easy use on a mobile device. There is also an
Egress Switch ‘app’ available for BlackBerry devices and iPhones/iPads, and will be available soon for
Android devices.
Can Egress Switch be used on Apple Macs?
Yes. The Egress Switch client can be installed on Mac OSX 10.6 and above.
Does Egress store any of my data?
Egress does not handle or store any information that users share. The information is encrypted using
AES 256-bit encryption and written to a secure package which can be transferred to the recipient
using CD/DVD, USB stick, local file, FTP, HTTP, or an attachment to email. The information Egress
keeps relates to user management, package management and audit information only. Egress
considers this information to be sensitive too, so they have designed their policy engine to use
secure transactions, strong authentication, and a secure encrypted server database.
Can Egress see my information?
Egress have gone to great lengths to ensure they cannot see your information. The Egress Client
software encrypts and decrypts your information on your local machine therefore Egress does not
have access to it.
Who can external recipients contact if they are having technical issues with Egress Switch?
They should contact the Egress support team directly using the following methods:
 Email support@egress.com
 Telephone 0871 376 0014
Further advice and guidance in using Egress Switch can be found here on the Egress website.
For further enquiries about Egress Switch and its use in Cafcass, please email:
governance@cafcass.gsi.gov.uk.