diff --git a/geneit_backend/Cargo.lock b/geneit_backend/Cargo.lock
index a9a9f15..4898bd2 100644
--- a/geneit_backend/Cargo.lock
+++ b/geneit_backend/Cargo.lock
@@ -1295,6 +1295,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "actix-remote-ip",
  "actix-web",
  "anyhow",
+ "base64 0.21.2",
  "bcrypt",
  "clap",
  "diesel",
diff --git a/geneit_backend/Cargo.toml b/geneit_backend/Cargo.toml
index c6750f2..0d9800c 100644
--- a/geneit_backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/geneit_backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,4 +35,5 @@ uuid = { version = "1.4.1", features = ["v4"] }
 httpdate = "1.0.2"
 zip = "0.6.6"
 mime_guess = "2.0.4"
-tempfile = "3.7.1"
\ No newline at end of file
+tempfile = "3.7.1"
+base64 = "0.21.2"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/geneit_backend/src/controllers/members_controller.rs b/geneit_backend/src/controllers/members_controller.rs
index 3749706..f6edff2 100644
--- a/geneit_backend/src/controllers/members_controller.rs
+++ b/geneit_backend/src/controllers/members_controller.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use crate::extractors::member_extractor::FamilyAndMemberInPath;
 use crate::models::{Member, MemberID, PhotoID, Sex};
 use crate::services::{members_service, photos_service};
 use crate::utils::countries_utils;
+use crate::utils::encode_utils::base64_enc;
 use actix_multipart::form::tempfile::TempFile;
 use actix_multipart::form::MultipartForm;
 use actix_web::{web, HttpResponse};
@@ -62,8 +63,8 @@ enum MemberControllerErr {
     MalformedBirthLastname,
     #[error("Malformed email address!")]
     MalformedEmailAddress,
-    #[error("Invalid email address!")]
-    InvalidEmailAddress,
+    #[error("Invalid email address (base64={0}) !")]
+    InvalidEmailAddress(String),
     #[error("Malformed phone number!")]
     MalformedPhoneNumber,
     #[error("Malformed address!")]
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ impl MemberRequest {
 
         if let Some(mail) = &self.email {
             if !mailchecker::is_valid(mail) {
-                return Err(MemberControllerErr::InvalidEmailAddress.into());
+                return Err(MemberControllerErr::InvalidEmailAddress(base64_enc(mail)).into());
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/geneit_backend/src/utils/encode_utils.rs b/geneit_backend/src/utils/encode_utils.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c2152e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/geneit_backend/src/utils/encode_utils.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use base64::{engine::general_purpose, Engine as _};
+
+/// Encode a base64 string
+pub fn base64_enc<T: AsRef<[u8]>>(b: T) -> String {
+    general_purpose::STANDARD_NO_PAD.encode(b)
+}
diff --git a/geneit_backend/src/utils/mod.rs b/geneit_backend/src/utils/mod.rs
index b6479b6..f5e433e 100644
--- a/geneit_backend/src/utils/mod.rs
+++ b/geneit_backend/src/utils/mod.rs
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 
 pub mod countries_utils;
 pub mod crypt_utils;
+pub mod encode_utils;
 pub mod string_utils;
 pub mod time_utils;