title: What is the best and safest way to store user email addresses in the database?
body: <p>From security reasons, is it worth encrypting user emails before putting them into the database?</p>
  
  <p>I know we hash and salt passwords but that's another story as we do not really need password originals. With emails it is different.</p>
  
  <p>Knowing that the decryption key will anyway be somewhere close to the database, does it make sense to encrypt emails? I suppose if someone gets into the system, they will find the key as well, if not immediately then eventually.</p>
  
  <p>What are the best-practices? Are there any other options available if I run my own servers and not on a shared/virtual hosting?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: I intend to use SQL Server. And no, it is no corporate software with security requirements, just some entertainment site I have in mind.</p>