What questions should not be asked in an unsecured contact form?

[cgl102770]

I'm doing a site for a medical professional, and he would like a referral page. He would like it to ask questions like:
Name, date of birth, email address, phone number, type of evaluation needed, etc.
I think some of these questions will make it so that the referral/contact form must be secured, and that it is not submitted to email but to a database instead. Is this correct? Thank you for any suggestions.

[dmcleary]

Hi cgl102770,

My advice would be to use a secure form. Using a secure form always gives the impression of a professional company that cares about the security of its customers' data. The data can then be accessed via a database interface, again through a secure connection.

The trouble with email is that the email, once received, can be sent anywhere and therefore the security of the data is not as restricted as it might otherwise be with the use of a database.

Security certs aren't that expensive.

I hope that helps but come back if there's anything further.

Best wishes,


David