Encrypt if key for recipient's address exists?

Hi,

I really am for using encryption as much as possible -- but let's face  
it, hardly anyone is encrypting mail. Among my many contacts, there are  
less than five who do; many of the others just don't care, others feel  
it is too complicated, and still others just have no idea what all that  
encryption stuff is about. (I have been told many times that somebody  
could read my mail, but the attachment, i.e. the signature part of the  
mail, could not be opened and I should send it again.)

Given that I cannot use encryption for mails to the majority of my  
contacts, I have only "Sign message" activated in my default identity.  
When composing a mail to one of my encrypting contacts, I must activate  
encryption manually. Actually, I have an identity with "Encrypt  
message" assigned to the mailboxes of my encrypting contacts.  
Unfortunately, this identity is only chosen if I *reply* to a message  
from these contacts. If I write a new message to them, I have to choose  
the "encrypting identity" manually -- and there have been cases where I  
have forgotten to change identities or missed the line with the correct  
identity. Thus, I have been sending mails only signed instead of signed  
and encrypted.

I believe that a useful remedy for this amnesia would be the ability to  
automatically encrypt mails to recipient addresses if a matching key is  
present in the local keyring. Perhaps an option "encrypt automatically  
if key is present" could be added to the dialogue in "Manage Identities  
.--> Security" or, more prominent, to "Balsa Preferences --> Mail  
options (Outgoing) --> Other options". Would that be possible?

Would that even make sense? Definitely, if you think about writing a  
mail to just one recipient address. But what if an "encrypting contact"  
is just in (B)CC, or if there are several (encrypting as well as  
non-encrypting) contacts in the To-header? It wouldn't make much sense  
to encrypt a mail that is also sent to a mailing list. But could  
sending the same message both encrypted and unencrypted compromise keys?

Curiously

Andreas

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