They gave meta information like IP to the government in Switzerland, where they are based, after the government forced them to with a court order. Not the encrypted mail, mind you, because they can’t do that, just the additional information they have on a user like email and IP.
Because of that, a lot of redditers on r/privacy think they spy on their users for the US government. It’s a stretch, yes, but you have to remember they take turns using the one brain they collectively have.
Yeah I agree, sounds a bit excessive. If that's correct, it doesn't sound like they're reading your data and at the end of the day they have to comply with things like warrants. Thanks for the clarification.
It is all also very clearly stated in the information they must collect in order to provide their service. There should’ve been no surprises here, as you must assume that scenarios like these will happen eventually.
Well, you don’t even need to provide an email or phone number when you sign up, so if you access the site via their onion address every time, they would have no information on you at all.
I guess the issue here is overselling the safety of the service. Wouldn't rely on them encrypting the mail for you, for example. It's probably fine if you treat it just like you would any other email service - assuming you're fine with being unable to use a mail client at all on the free plan and using it in a weird roundabout way on the paid plans.
But.. basically every email provider or hosting service is legally obliged to give the information they collect to the government. It's not like this is exclusive to Proton in any way whatsoever. If anything, subpoenas are evidence Proton tell the truth and do at least stop themselves from having most of the important data so they can't give it away.
Privacy wise? Probably nothing. The company engages in shitty behavior, though, and will try to upsell you even if you're a paying costumer. I switched to Tuta because of that, and then Tuta started doing all the same bs...
Wait, what's wrong with Proton Mail?
They gave meta information like IP to the government in Switzerland, where they are based, after the government forced them to with a court order. Not the encrypted mail, mind you, because they can’t do that, just the additional information they have on a user like email and IP.
Because of that, a lot of redditers on r/privacy think they spy on their users for the US government. It’s a stretch, yes, but you have to remember they take turns using the one brain they collectively have.
Yeah I agree, sounds a bit excessive. If that's correct, it doesn't sound like they're reading your data and at the end of the day they have to comply with things like warrants. Thanks for the clarification.
It is all also very clearly stated in the information they must collect in order to provide their service. There should’ve been no surprises here, as you must assume that scenarios like these will happen eventually.
If all they have on you is your optional backup email and your IP, I think they're doing pretty well in the no data-collecting part?
Well, you don’t even need to provide an email or phone number when you sign up, so if you access the site via their onion address every time, they would have no information on you at all.
I guess the issue here is overselling the safety of the service. Wouldn't rely on them encrypting the mail for you, for example. It's probably fine if you treat it just like you would any other email service - assuming you're fine with being unable to use a mail client at all on the free plan and using it in a weird roundabout way on the paid plans.
But.. basically every email provider or hosting service is legally obliged to give the information they collect to the government. It's not like this is exclusive to Proton in any way whatsoever. If anything, subpoenas are evidence Proton tell the truth and do at least stop themselves from having most of the important data so they can't give it away.
I don't think OP was trying to say Proton Mail is bad or insecure. Rather the opposite.
Privacy wise? Probably nothing. The company engages in shitty behavior, though, and will try to upsell you even if you're a paying costumer. I switched to Tuta because of that, and then Tuta started doing all the same bs...
I would also like to know, lol.