> If you decrypt the data on the database, the sysadmin can see it. Hm, you are right. If one does decrypt the data on the database you have to sent the password to postgresql and so a administrator of the database could easily grasb the password. So the only way to go, would be to perform en/decryption on the client side? > If you are willing to take that chance (e.g. if you primary concern is > some third party getting a snapshot of the DB), then you can do lots of > things. I wonder now; if somebody could achieve to get a snapshot of the database, they could also be able to get the log-file of postgresql. So one would also have to make attention that the information like sql statements don't leak that way. Are there other places where this kind of information could leak? Greetings, Daniel Struck -- Retrovirology Laboratory Luxembourg Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg 4, rue E. Barblé L-1210 Luxembourg phone: +352-44116105 fax: +352-44116113 web: http://www.retrovirology.lu e-mail: struck.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx