Do clients need a Google account?

No. Google Forms requires respondents to sign in to upload files. ShieldFive File Request needs no account from the client — they open the link and drag files in.

Is this better for GDPR than Google Forms?

For sensitive documents, yes: the data is encrypted to your keys before upload and stored as ciphertext in the EU, and a data-processing agreement is included. With Google Forms, Google holds readable files and the keys.

Collect documents without Google holding a readable copy

Google Forms can collect file uploads, but respondents must sign in to a Google account, the files land in your Drive, and Google holds the keys. For client document collection under GDPR, “stored in Google Drive, readable by Google” is often a non-starter.

Start collecting — free How the encryption works →

ShieldFive File Request lets your client upload with no account at all, seals each file to your keys in their browser, and keeps ciphertext in the EU — so there’s no readable copy on anyone’s servers, including ours.

No Google account — no account at all

Google Forms makes a respondent sign in before it will take a file, which quietly excludes anyone without a Google identity or unwilling to use it. Here the client opens a link, sees the checklist, and uploads. Nothing to create, nothing to remember.

Nothing readable lands in a Drive

A Google Forms upload arrives in your Drive as a file Google can open, index, and scan. File Request seals each document to your public key on the client’s device, so what arrives is ciphertext with an encrypted name that only your browser can turn back into a document.

EU jurisdiction, not a sub-processor map

Ciphertext and metadata live in the EU under EU jurisdiction, and a GDPR data-processing agreement is included on every seat. That is a materially simpler answer for a records-of-processing entry than mapping Google’s sub-processors.

Sealed against tomorrow’s decryption

Uploads are sealed with a hybrid of ML-KEM-1024 and X25519 via the open-source @shieldfive/crypto core, so documents collected today stay sealed against “harvest now, decrypt later”. It is the default, not an upgrade.

Start collecting documents securely

Create a request, share one link, and your clients upload without an account — each file sealed to your keys in their browser.

Start collecting — free

14-day trial, everything unlocked · then free for 1 open request at a time · no card · clients never pay

Questions

Do clients need a Google account?: No. Google Forms requires respondents to sign in to upload files. ShieldFive File Request needs no account from the client — they open the link and drag files in.
Is this better for GDPR than Google Forms?: For sensitive documents, yes: the data is encrypted to your keys before upload and stored as ciphertext in the EU, and a data-processing agreement is included. With Google Forms, Google holds readable files and the keys.