Proton Mail discloses activist IP address to police - Revision history

SinexTitan: /* Proton's response */ slightly better formatting

2026-03-26T05:07:42Z

Proton's response: slightly better formatting

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:07, 26 March 2026
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	In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>		In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>

			=== Proton's response: ===
	==Proton's response==		<blockquote>This case shows that Proton Mail works as it is designed to. The identity and location of the activist was already known to the French authorities (they had already been evicted once before for squatting, and the nature of squatting means that their location is known). Therefore, the authorities were most likely targeting email contents which might have provided further incriminating evidence. The fact that Proton Mail was not able to hand over any messages even under legal order proves that our encryption works, and very likely will be of great assistance to the activist in this case. Had they been using any other email provider, the outcome would have been very different<ref name=":0" /></blockquote><blockquote>In October 2021, Proton won a Swiss court ruling that email services are not telecommunications providers. Consequently, email services are not subject to the data retention requirements imposed on telecommunications providers and are exempted from handing over certain user data in response to Swiss legal orders<ref name=":0" /></blockquote><blockquote>We will be making updates to our website to better clarify Proton Mail’s obligations in cases of criminal prosecution and we apologize if this was not clear. As a Swiss company, we must follow Swiss laws. We will also clarify that the use of our onion site (details below) is highly recommended for users with heightened privacy needs. Finally, we will also be updating our privacy policy to make clearer our legal obligations under Swiss law.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|last=Yen \|first=Andy \|date=6 Dec 2021 \|title=Important clarifications regarding arrest of climate activist \|url=https://proton.me/blog/climate-activist-arrest}}</ref></blockquote>
	"This case shows that Proton Mail works as it is designed to. The identity and location of the activist was already known to the French authorities (they had already been evicted once before for squatting, and the nature of squatting means that their location is known). Therefore, the authorities were most likely targeting email contents which might have provided further incriminating evidence. The fact that Proton Mail was not able to hand over any messages even under legal order proves that our encryption works, and very likely will be of great assistance to the activist in this case. Had they been using any other email provider, the outcome would have been very different"

	"In October 2021, Proton won a Swiss court ruling that email services are not telecommunications providers. Consequently, email services are not subject to the data retention requirements imposed on telecommunications providers and are exempted from handing over certain user data in response to Swiss legal orders"

	"We will be making updates to our website to better clarify Proton Mail’s obligations in cases of criminal prosecution and we apologize if this was not clear. As a Swiss company, we must follow Swiss laws. We will also clarify that the use of our onion site (details below) is highly recommended for users with heightened privacy needs. Finally, we will also be updating our privacy policy to make clearer our legal obligations under Swiss law. "<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Yen \|first=Andy \|date=6 Dec 2021 \|title=Important clarifications regarding arrest of climate activist \|url=https://proton.me/blog/climate-activist-arrest}}</ref>

	==Lawsuit==		==Lawsuit==

SinexTitan: added to the protonmail category

2026-03-25T16:24:49Z

added to the protonmail category

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:24, 25 March 2026
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	{{Ph-I-B}}		{{Ph-I-B}}

	== ProtonMail provides the IP address of a climate activist to police ==		==ProtonMail provides the IP address of a climate activist to police==
	In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>		In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>


	== Proton's response ==		==Proton's response==
	"This case shows that Proton Mail works as it is designed to. The identity and location of the activist was already known to the French authorities (they had already been evicted once before for squatting, and the nature of squatting means that their location is known). Therefore, the authorities were most likely targeting email contents which might have provided further incriminating evidence. The fact that Proton Mail was not able to hand over any messages even under legal order proves that our encryption works, and very likely will be of great assistance to the activist in this case. Had they been using any other email provider, the outcome would have been very different"		"This case shows that Proton Mail works as it is designed to. The identity and location of the activist was already known to the French authorities (they had already been evicted once before for squatting, and the nature of squatting means that their location is known). Therefore, the authorities were most likely targeting email contents which might have provided further incriminating evidence. The fact that Proton Mail was not able to hand over any messages even under legal order proves that our encryption works, and very likely will be of great assistance to the activist in this case. Had they been using any other email provider, the outcome would have been very different"

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	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}

	~~{{Ph-I-C}}~~		[[Category:Proton Mail]]

185.252.220.150: Add proton's mail response. Add title for the incident

2026-03-25T12:02:58Z

Add proton's mail response. Add title for the incident

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:02, 25 March 2026
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	{{Ph-I-B}}		{{Ph-I-B}}

	==~~[Incident]~~==		== ProtonMail provides the IP address of a climate activist to police ==
	In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>		In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>


	==~~=[Company]~~'s response===		== Proton's response ==
	~~{{Ph-I-ComR}}~~		"This case shows that Proton Mail works as it is designed to. The identity and location of the activist was already known to the French authorities (they had already been evicted once before for squatting, and the nature of squatting means that their location is known). Therefore, the authorities were most likely targeting email contents which might have provided further incriminating evidence. The fact that Proton Mail was not able to hand over any messages even under legal order proves that our encryption works, and very likely will be of great assistance to the activist in this case. Had they been using any other email provider, the outcome would have been very different"

			"In October 2021, Proton won a Swiss court ruling that email services are not telecommunications providers. Consequently, email services are not subject to the data retention requirements imposed on telecommunications providers and are exempted from handing over certain user data in response to Swiss legal orders"

			"We will be making updates to our website to better clarify Proton Mail’s obligations in cases of criminal prosecution and we apologize if this was not clear. As a Swiss company, we must follow Swiss laws. We will also clarify that the use of our onion site (details below) is highly recommended for users with heightened privacy needs. Finally, we will also be updating our privacy policy to make clearer our legal obligations under Swiss law. "<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Yen \|first=Andy \|date=6 Dec 2021 \|title=Important clarifications regarding arrest of climate activist \|url=https://proton.me/blog/climate-activist-arrest}}</ref>

	==Lawsuit==		==Lawsuit==

STiKyt: Began making a separate incident page, needs finishing

2026-03-19T02:22:17Z

Began making a separate incident page, needs finishing

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:22, 19 March 2026
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			{{Stub}}

	{{IncidentCargo		{{IncidentCargo
	\|Company=Proton		\|Company=Proton
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	==[Incident]==		==[Incident]==
	{{Ph-I-I}}		In early September 2021, Swiss authorities obtained a court order that resulted in Proton logging the IP address and device information for a particular Proton Mail account.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Lomas \|first=Natasha \|last2=Dillet \|first2=Romain \|date=6 September 2021 \|title=ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities \|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906115002/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ \|archive-date=6 September 2021 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=TechCrunch}}</ref> That connection data was provided to investigators and was reported to have contributed to identification in the related investigation and an arrest involving an activist associated with protests in France.<ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bateman \|first=Tom \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail criticised for passing arrested French climate activist's IP address to police \|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907144956/https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/07/protonmail-criticised-for-passing-arrested-french-climate-activist-s-ip-address-to-police \|archive-date=2021-09-07 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Euro News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Bode \|first=Karl \|date=2021-09-07 \|title=ProtonMail Under Fire For Sharing ClActivist Data With French Authorities \|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129191946/https://www.vice.com/en/article/protonmail-under-fire-for-sharing-clactivist-data-with-french-authorities/ \|archive-date=29 January 2025 \|access-date=2026-03-19 \|work=Vice}}</ref>


	===[Company]'s response===		===[Company]'s response===

STiKyt: Created the page

2026-03-19T01:56:52Z

Created the page

New page

{{IncidentCargo
|Company=Proton
|StartDate=2021-09-06
|Status=Resolved
|Product=Proton Mail
|ArticleType=Service
|Type=Privacy, Legal Intimidation
|Description=ProtonMail logged and disclosed a user's IP under Swiss court order in Sept 2021, prompting policy clarifications and criticism
}}
{{Ph-I-Int}}
==Background==
{{Ph-I-B}}

==[Incident]==
{{Ph-I-I}}

===[Company]'s response===
{{Ph-I-ComR}}

==Lawsuit==
{{Ph-I-L}}

==Consumer response==
{{Ph-I-ConR}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ph-I-C}}