Protonmail: Difference between revisions - Consumer_Action

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== False advertising and work with authorities ==

Protonmail has advertised itself as a private and secure service, as by their own words "No personal information is required to create your secure email account. By default, we do not keep any IP logs which can be linked to your anonymous email account. Your privacy comes first.", which was part of the advertising on their official website<ref><nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20210831234120/https://protonmail.com/</nowiki></ref> (www.protonmail.com, now www.proton.me). As it turned out, that statement was false. In 2021, a member of a French activist group had been using Protonmail to communicate with the group, and as an investigation was launched involving them, the email provider has quickly handed over the user's IP address and other data like the device they were using<ref><nowiki>https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/</nowiki></ref>. After the news reached the public and sparked a controversy, claims about the lack of IP logging were swiftly removed from the website. The company tried to excuse their behavior by stating, that they do not have to comply with authorities such as EUROPOL, and although this may be true, in cases of investigations the bigger organizations from outside simply use the Swiss government as a middleman to get any request through that they wish. Protonmail is not anonymous and any information will be handed over when requested by the Swiss government, which does also cooperate with other investigative authorities, leading to essentially no protection in case of any such event.

Protonmail has advertised itself as a private and secure service, as by their own words "No personal information is required to create your secure email account. By default, we do not keep any IP logs which can be linked to your anonymous email account. Your privacy comes first.", which was part of the advertising on their official website<ref><nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20210831234120/https://protonmail.com/</nowiki></ref> (www.protonmail.com, now www.proton.me). As it turned out, that statement was false. In 2021, a member of a French activist group had been using Protonmail to communicate with the group, and as an investigation was launched involving them, the email provider has quickly handed over the user's IP address and other data like the device they were using.<ref><nowiki>https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/</nowiki></ref> After the news reached the public and sparked a controversy, claims about the lack of IP logging were swiftly removed from the website. The company tried to excuse their behavior by stating, that they do not have to comply with authorities such as EUROPOL, and although this may be true, in cases of investigations the bigger organizations from outside simply use the Swiss government as a middleman to get any request through that they wish. Protonmail is not anonymous and any information will be handed over when requested by the Swiss government, which does also cooperate with other investigative authorities, leading to essentially no protection in case of any such event.

Endorsement of Donald Trump by CEO Andy Yen on Twitter.

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 == False advertising and work with authorities ==
-Protonmail has advertised itself as a private and secure service, as by their own words "No personal information is required to create your secure email account. By default, we do not keep any IP logs which can be linked to your anonymous email account. Your privacy comes first.", which was part of the advertising on their official website<ref><nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20210831234120/https://protonmail.com/</nowiki></ref> (www.protonmail.com, now www.proton.me). As it turned out, that statement was false. In 2021, a member of a French activist group had been using Protonmail to communicate with the group, and as an investigation was launched involving them, the email provider has quickly handed over the user's IP address and other data like the device they were using<ref><nowiki>https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/</nowiki></ref>. After the news reached the public and sparked a controversy, claims about the lack of IP logging were swiftly removed from the website. The company tried to excuse their behavior by stating, that they do not have to comply with authorities such as EUROPOL, and although this may be true, in cases of investigations the bigger organizations from outside simply use the Swiss government as a middleman to get any request through that they wish. Protonmail is not anonymous and any information will be handed over when requested by the Swiss government, which does also cooperate with other investigative authorities, leading to essentially no protection in case of any such event.
+Protonmail has advertised itself as a private and secure service, as by their own words "No personal information is required to create your secure email account. By default, we do not keep any IP logs which can be linked to your anonymous email account. Your privacy comes first.", which was part of the advertising on their official website<ref><nowiki>https://web.archive.org/web/20210831234120/https://protonmail.com/</nowiki></ref> (www.protonmail.com, now www.proton.me). As it turned out, that statement was false. In 2021, a member of a French activist group had been using Protonmail to communicate with the group, and as an investigation was launched involving them, the email provider has quickly handed over the user's IP address and other data like the device they were using.<ref><nowiki>https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/</nowiki></ref> After the news reached the public and sparked a controversy, claims about the lack of IP logging were swiftly removed from the website. The company tried to excuse their behavior by stating, that they do not have to comply with authorities such as EUROPOL, and although this may be true, in cases of investigations the bigger organizations from outside simply use the Swiss government as a middleman to get any request through that they wish. Protonmail is not anonymous and any information will be handed over when requested by the Swiss government, which does also cooperate with other investigative authorities, leading to essentially no protection in case of any such event.
 Endorsement of Donald Trump by CEO Andy Yen on Twitter.