Step 1. Install GPA

You'll want to install something called "gpa". You can install it in the terminal/command line, or if you're using some graphical installer I'm sure you can just search gpa.

GPA is The GNU Privacy Assistant, a graphical frontend for GnuPG. According to the site, "GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP). GnuPG allows you to encrypt and sign your data and communications; it features a versatile key management system, along with access modules for all kinds of public key directories."

Installing programs varies depending on which Linux distribution and package manager you're using. I use Paru on Arch, so that command would be: paru -S gpa

GPA (the program we're using to encrypt and decrypt messages) isn't like a chat program or anything. It's just a way to encrypt messages to a specific sender and for the sender to decrypt that message via GPG. This program is easy to use once you've tried it a few times.

Step 2. Creating a "key"

You create a "key". You'll get TWO KEYS. One key is akin to an e-mailing address. The other key is akin to your password. Here's more detail.

1. A public key
The public key is basically your mailing address, it's a long string of text that you can post publically or send to someone. It's like if you emailed me your phone number, I would be able to contact you via phone. If you email me your public key, I can send you an encrypted message via GPG. If you post your public key online, people can send messages to your public key. You can send a GPG message to someone even if that person doesn't have your key. If you want them to message you back, then it's a good idea to include your public key in the message you're sending them. The public key is a long string, I put mine on this page: https://icum.to/analjuice/

2. A private key
The private key YOU NEVER GIVE TO ANYONE. DO NOT PASTE YOUR PRIVATE KEY ANYWHERE TO ANYONE OR ANYWHERE PUBLIC. Your private key acts similar to a password, treat it as if it's a password because it essentially is a password. You enter in your private key when you encrypt a message and also when you decrypt/receive a message.

When you install gpa, it will ask for basic info like a name. Fill it out with whatever you want, this information will be visible to others. I think it asks for an email, you don't have to confirm anything via email, just enter a throwaway you have. But this email will be visible to others in what is essentially the "contacts" section in gpa.

This picture shows what your information will look like on GPA.

A WORD OF ADVICE

After you create your "key" (similar to an account/log in) be sure to SAVE YOUR PRIVATE KEY SOMEWHERE SAFE. I recommend installing something like KeepassXC (open source). Keepass is a secure way to save and manage your passwords in an ecrypted file, it's not stored online in some cloud server (which is a very stupid way to do things). With KeepassXC, it's all local on your machine, never has to touch the internet. Your keepass is a file, and in this file you will store and save your passwords, this file is also encrypted so if someone were on your computer and tries to open this file, it won't open unless they enter in the correct password (or if you have a weak password and they can bruteforce into your Keepass file).

An aside: If you use the same password (and even email) for your accounts, STOP THAT. DONT DO THAT. If and WHEN there is a data breach, and it only takes one, your information will be out there with your email and password. Someone can easily try this email and password on other accounts and gain access. It's a very good idea to have different passwords for every account. And here's the thing, don't use passwords you can remember. You shouldn't be able to type out your password by memory. Your password should be long and complicated, as it's harder to "brute force" aka for machines to attempt cracking your password. Keepass allows you to create random long passwords, or you can make your own unique random long passwords each time. Do what you like.

ANYWAYS. Store your private and public key in Keepass, make sure to label your password entry. There is a "notes" section under the password you make, add your private key in the notes section or password section.

Step 3. Import a contact

Now you want to import a contact or "key". Go to this page https://icum.to/analjuice/ and find my GPG key. Copy and paste it into a text file on your computer (make sure your file ends with .txt)
There's an arrow icon in gpa, hover over it and it says "import keys". It will want a file, click the file with my GPG key you made. It will basically import me as a contact. Circled is the import key button.

Step 4. HOW TO ENCRYPT/"SEND" MESSAGE

Then once you're done, click the envelope icon that says "encrypt the buffer". It will open up the contacts list, select the person you want.

You might have people already in your keyring, that's because those are required for some software you might have installed. So anyways click my name. It might give some disclaimer, just click yes.

Now it will give you some huge string of text. Copy ALL of this text. This is the message you wrote but in it's encrypted form. You will send this big wall of text to whoever it is you're encrypting the message to. You can even post this wall of text publically online. Nobody else can decrypt this, only the person who you select the message to. The only way the recipient of the message can decrypt this is if they enter in their private key, so I'll tell you how to do that. First, this is what a message will look like, it's just an example and won't work for you.

-----BEGIN GPG MESSAGE-----
hQIMA2/C5vdVFfIVAQ/+L4FpDcny/G2O/GtgvHw14oBoO83/pyCQRrfShrRDDCSl 5hC2+V1l3Ps6OQ9zTSVd6OtbhI4CkfEsoA9FHS4BfUfXGTiHqmBpYgvTN/6LXxSm i12NAarbOQC8xSMc1j0dHAE9dBnO/SiIQ2wCK+pYe7Opz6REpR7Xgr2dzdDrHhHV gr8ayqTPvodoF61mVndFc5u45rTnUJpYvDhCOceV4sEtlXKz3wlIQGGfW9gZT64O gMoRq66dooNggOabnF1R0/KI/rxfUx2HqG6qyvErjLJDSvRn86+KqEiAiqZAFyFd QZwxv5/HBXxlEdhrSnsrrCR+HjVGmBjvYlB/5xKO/hIngawnI7YFw8oWQiLHP4ku +AhgTndPR8+yaWRVZg+4fA0VYiTadxg0ZHaJ63A4EENt8v6seHUnLWOSGoW1aagt a/REVS6AYjkOZVzlvhUWCN6rsa1wabhAYRtA3XyPuaoe5OIhg9yFUVt/HA0dDOcU Tp5mUPXUw2TFLvadVxtgpwWIGXxmU8lI/U7G1j0JQy5MxncezcxeXGn1ZFTCQNHZ mhZj+Bhq+knrj/BA/ylk7EaKlf1diIXNe5C5T38RCA67vGCINLEsPESA3qPCiSE8 yVeSJVDlWf/3md2XB8n9Ti8/F/wRanLy+wJOpkAQuWKvipGIqqadOsmraNDe7drS RQEo6vPsI8G4LBIpt9ga+B789+BIr+bl9we79Jv8jZfHya/vFgTJ3fh0HNIgmVWv UiIzY1SL+EfNkm48R0vtBnIZ6zB4nQ===5Ul7
-----END GPG MESSAGE-----

IMPORTANT

Step 5. HOW TO DECRYPT A MESSAGE

Say I send you a GPG message and it looks like that huge string of text. All you do is open up the clipboard icon and paste that huge string of text into the clipboard. Then click the envelope icon that says "decrypt the buffer text".

It will ask for your private key. It IS OKAY to enter in your private key here. It isn't sending your private key to anyone, it's basically just re-authenticating yourself to ensure you can read the message. So after you enter in your private key, it will decrypt the message and you can read it FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

Step 6. TEST SENDING A MESSAGE

You can test sending me a message via GPG. My public key is below. Please specify if you want me to respond to your test to confirm it worked. My email is: ashleyjones@icum.to

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
mQINBGMprYsBEACpvID+N8R8Rtz87+CDD0bzR6wjdKaNi1gwmqPY9QmDvBr047lS hARjmOj/u2xAHBatdonmtwZI6e0wtKU8OK3LEeYcbvyl93lFQfGTrnkr7M/5u7Mr /gvYbGn2d9v++I5H6C5ml3uZqDO2Xr+DO9zVWx0C2VYo0EOFM+ZshIFpqteEyhVg z1KFL1yXKOE9QPBgVIFKK+H9XGXLjXRY3hzVN+/tIHLQ7jjPqushlsEem0+Ji6yl T+bnWraBAnGLEn0TEn3CR29E8thGrvVlxNlRgjS3q5Pp7y1MwbbiDBMjfx97pA2v fEWSIwidoUvRsPjdVVV9Cu9b3rZtQzPLfpfPbiDMHF5CaLCiQwOHkvKEY+B73BFx VIIr7kic2ldqCNDnlkNXLnaU0t2zSIWk/0myw6arbeGu/NPRB7UOG/4VZL0eE9G0 JWzVGODTkRAcmSvkcmI6hgm9C+CW1eGy2y410X7Twr1Q+Ra6txiBH72ASFca1Vuc qPgiKVewz1k2Z21CEBLN8Pewaz1XYAIa4IuR3nIX5QbUrWZjJ6c4miAjgmP6MNhn /Rr6MOAr5oEPxDmXZGf8gTddu2m5dGHvPZfbiYirnkygBs+AyJyWhn9rX+V/qYRh Dx+5obNF/msQ64Csl/x+kyqE3LCmaAvfMMO7w5LSNAace/+4fFpSDX+rKwARAQAB tCBBc2hsZXkgSm9uZXMgKFZpc2l0IG1lOiBpY3VtLnRvKYkCTgQTAQgAOBYhBH8n 1c2QwQIG9Z7P6+qSYVPfQuRjBQJjKa2LAhsDBQsJCAcCBhUKCQgLAgQWAgMBAh4B AheAAAoJEOqSYVPfQuRj+WEP/3wwNLeStBXWF/BOrW+yrHmcH+pfhrFNzz/9O5wj m8UL58c49NO6B3da3jrDvJ8TZbe2rZZ46pa5OE9OXsvnQQoqXJf0sc3Sg4x07soR 3qfy/cg5stQI6ryWiIugsBkVu0EA6Ch/DDnrDTnCzaGvVC0SJwVvyEaqM4g5Vce9 DGbdfXDrh4NjniXdRHHnZ1LV1zGb+XWDxpj5AokE1QneXkafF/ZVLe1TNPLpqnSM lJ4Icc0QX3kgDrxldR2+ntofp795grXb840Sq256ZS4W6NRyv7627DF3pmMdY3r1 zUH1wVGcSsqgRZ0BUqGfm232A5sdC3xtm10njkBFHWBZ4KMHj76OQyeRY+lwo5Y7 1KxP+KumjYQlFtnC/5Um81wKij9SdkW43sH0diJIiZbA80yByJyoRct0jGu3klUs ZVQBnEAXuXyF123m3nc30G3ZCsrlOuaixEGiKi49RKbseJtdSeyn23UPl9+kTvoi nd2U0k6BuEfwMGbAAXhjAtiA8/o6/c1HZXYRwZpzC+q7i6XCbItRPXcMGt470GvK z2BPI0lpF+Sgp2PziMd2O1hECiTuiyTYJe67dYdErlmYRmobBqAkJ2p7VaG9FB+S 14F51JctoKarCxeEARNMx5r1/KHUPlpH5uuCC7x1i3NTR+eD4QugHKddvunm9LnN OE1MuQINBGMprYsBEADPqSP117d0XVIEl9xwuhCxoZFF2r2qaCT6/o2ZTH36jNa5 O9KUi57xzZtWQZr44wlxYfK43kIC0QxR20DxVvTH3cc6T5C4tWmWYKd4EfxEIY+/ +mDoshvdEQYeHA6ou6Rlexz5mZVWpM5YRjRp2fqhRgf6Z5f9kp77AUAIl4EQpllF PHJZ3PPgGz0JNRZsN8E/WSzYEZacDG/nvjlSOdGCXsffxlrcGIOgo8YpvCmLiHf4 hHcvKdPGegpj9/Nhp2V6u4JL/Qbbu8OuOET7Lip014JCJESBe9eLq9vwT77Cph1K A2cQygfxqOpnyhMCdqWWJ9yy8zxYyhpSowm6ME9SkKL1ylxTHp25cm/QHxfiBr0S EW0s4FE+1FS8nOQVzB/PqnWYWLK2LBed5I5PgM/fUqKl60b+Jzk/3Z4RvFLCqzVG i9YKK49t3c0w0aDh8h5F4+U3B1lhS1j7PvCFM5sX3cbz0gLB+2gbmmcIzPQDPhok 2FLQQzlJJLPxY43q5AU1lwWJ4mraXuFk/iIf1/LvNdX2mP1RbhWDFRmt5gPLOAHf pC9AnZQQHrDIWxwFfW5+rmLr+TQHTW+4iQdHma6l/+UlMRMIBvcsGyNCJSwwlEay E2UzYm4LJea0gN1OEZ2N7U0PAd7RmwY5/eO1u2LaT1y5GU9rAwoyQmNKe4QTMQAR AQABiQI2BBgBCAAgFiEEfyfVzZDBAgb1ns/r6pJhU99C5GMFAmMprYsCGwwACgkQ 6pJhU99C5GP5MQ//cAgTw+f4WN+2gfgA/NgqZd9bm5ciSxps76j43nzhuS6wk0FY HEPXrbVvQG6mrL6R+veGB74lnCg58mqx+6mIiFiAlw+joVOVwFMhsumCq9bFeay8 3OwMMRASN1Wt1YBD/40CmnP9I1qglGl8fRWT0mr2FCW0370ToEPOazx3pdChkfK0 SRC4ZAsolMp3WVDDGAn7YI28r4nEoA1XwTeIq5taLUJhY65dg94hDtGqylD4NOgD D8p38t5JgDpn1O+PsFCtaXdl6a1dPiv4Cd2aoNqAltb5tLxjrHepeoeVUB1hfYMR XGgVcSI57ioE3UqcoQazTosuIbWjwR02EZU/KhXWbI2iYjW3dE05zWlGdhLCCf0U Q+8bl24Ku1pmYOBjG7OrRbk02tGp+UcIwwBUQP4H1nDM/qtFlJFzZrlV0gKnxkI3 m1QcyICDOBkfeVxnxE/55FrFaSkXQO2k02irl2Lk/gExAXeTtTIzY1U/FwW3grni Z07LgnpEWlM7hEMiA0nxRRqVEkb+7Z1yitBwm5p4BZ7P4nVGpMafrVW9jdl32PU/ 162NX1Ue6FtAPJjCwPObETRJtc+OPhG8VMbfXM/ss21itjzbA6ufn9V2ki0G+ngM zgOaeIcE0eDAMA93DtQb6mjfX/Dln4tw529qjdOyFij/euAcx1ptZaTGbi4= =pLiS
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

How to send images with GPG.

You may not want to use a filesharing service to host or send images you would prefer to be private. There are a few solutions to this, but with this particular method you can send an image IN GPG. You can locally on your machine "convert" (it's not really "converting" - but I'm using that term for the sake of simplicity) an image to a "data URI". A data URI is a very long string of text, and when you import this string of text into a program that can decipher this text, it will show you the image.

For example, below is a cute picture of my husband, Michael J Fox, before he got parkinsons. The image you see isn't a .jpg or .png. It's a data URI that is being displayed. If you open the image in a new tab, you'll see the URL isn't a typical filetype, but the data URI. Scroll below, after the image, to see the data URI (which is the text that actually makes the image.)

Data URIs are extremely long, so I put it at the very end of this page. First, you will need to ""convert"" your image (like a .jpg or .png) into a data URI. You *can* use online converters, but that is redundant if you want your image to be private. I wouldn't advise uploading your image to someone's servers, as one would with an online converter. Instead, you can get the data URI of an image using the command line.

Open your terminal. Type:
echo "data:image/png;base64,$(base64 < filename.jpg)"

(Make sure you're in the directory of the image in your terminal, otherwise it won't be able to locate the image.)
Anyways, it will display a very long string of text. Copy the text, starting where it says "data:image" all the way to the very end. Ctrl+c doesn't typically copy in the terminal, you can just right click on your selected area and press "copy". Now you can put this very large string of text into your encrypted GPG message, and the recipient can view this data URI locally on their machine.

How to view a data URI image locally on your machine
Say, for example, that you have data URI text you need to view locally on your machine. Take the long string of the data URI text and paste it into a text document, such as "filename.txt". You will use software called imagemagick in your terminal to convert this text document into an image. Install imagemagick, then type this in your terminal:
imagemagick inline:filename.txt output.jpg

This command turns the data URI text document into an image.

You *can* simply make an .html file and using the img tag, paste the data URI into the tag. However, you will be viewing this html file on your browser, which technically isn't the most private way to do things. Because of this, I would advise to do everything locally on your machine.

Actual data URI text: