This happened years ago afaik, but lemmy keeps sharing it around for some reason.
For context, proton encrypts the traffic, not the IP Address. While I dont remember how long IP Addresses stay in their logs, you can easily avoid exposing your true IP address by using a VPN, which is clearly not what that acitvist had done.
Proton is still compelled to follow government laws in order to operate, and will hand over what info they have when compelled to. If that info is something their service can encrypt, such as emails, cloud storage, passwords, and so on, then it will look like jumped data when handed over. You IP address can’t reasonably be encrypted, and neither can your primary email that is associated with you proton account. If your primary email has revealing info, then thats on you for not obfuscating it more. If you arent using a VPN to access services, then your IP address will be indicative of where your traffic might be coming from. The end user does need to take extra steps to make sure their traffic is secure, and proton does talk about this in their documentation.
Proton is one of very few companies Ive seen pass third party security audits. They may not be perfect, but they are secure, and I’ve yet to see that truly disproven.
Mullvad processes all its VPN data directly in RAM, so it’s constantly rewritten and no data is saved because there isn’t even a disk for it… I wonder if it would be possible for Proton (or any other privacy-focused service) to do the same with all its services. They already don’t keep logs, but in that case they were ordered to keep them because they had the means to do it. If they weren’t physically capable of doing it, what would happen? I don’t think a court could force them to rework their infrastructure just for that (considering how expensive it would be).
Proton claimed there was no way to appeal, but Swiss law is not bound by Interpol. I think what it really amounts to is they are not going to protect their users. This is why you don’t pay for let alone use a corporation’s services unless you willing to give up your privacy.
Proton is not your friend, they have and will continue to betray their users. Do not trust them or any corporation that is not willing to fight for their users.
Operating in other countries means you do need to follow their laws in order to operate in them. Being a swiss company doesnt make them exempt from the laws of other countries, and not complying risks them losing business in other countries. Their products do work, but the user needs to use them correctly to not put themselves in a position where they can be traced. The activist clearly wasnt using a vpn when accessing their email.
I do agree, dont trust proton, never trust any corporation, but i also know enough about how their tech works and how to manage my own online privacy that I know they arent just blowing smoke. I would much rather have proton comply with the law and continue to be accessible for most of the world, than have them fight for a single user who could have done more to protect themselves and potentially lose the ability to run their services for other countries. Most people arent self hosting, so they cant run their own secure services. Proton is a much better option than the fascist bowing corpos who run most of the tech world. Until self hosting becomes accessible for regular people, I will continue to recommend proton as the easiest option to have secure services with.
Corporations can and do fight for their users. Proton is not one of these companies. I think that says all we need to know about their commitments to their users. You are welcome to continue leading people to a business that have shown that they are not willing to do what is right because profit is their primary motivation.
This happened years ago afaik, but lemmy keeps sharing it around for some reason.
For context, proton encrypts the traffic, not the IP Address. While I dont remember how long IP Addresses stay in their logs, you can easily avoid exposing your true IP address by using a VPN, which is clearly not what that acitvist had done.
Proton is still compelled to follow government laws in order to operate, and will hand over what info they have when compelled to. If that info is something their service can encrypt, such as emails, cloud storage, passwords, and so on, then it will look like jumped data when handed over. You IP address can’t reasonably be encrypted, and neither can your primary email that is associated with you proton account. If your primary email has revealing info, then thats on you for not obfuscating it more. If you arent using a VPN to access services, then your IP address will be indicative of where your traffic might be coming from. The end user does need to take extra steps to make sure their traffic is secure, and proton does talk about this in their documentation.
Proton is one of very few companies Ive seen pass third party security audits. They may not be perfect, but they are secure, and I’ve yet to see that truly disproven.
Mullvad processes all its VPN data directly in RAM, so it’s constantly rewritten and no data is saved because there isn’t even a disk for it… I wonder if it would be possible for Proton (or any other privacy-focused service) to do the same with all its services. They already don’t keep logs, but in that case they were ordered to keep them because they had the means to do it. If they weren’t physically capable of doing it, what would happen? I don’t think a court could force them to rework their infrastructure just for that (considering how expensive it would be).
Proton claimed there was no way to appeal, but Swiss law is not bound by Interpol. I think what it really amounts to is they are not going to protect their users. This is why you don’t pay for let alone use a corporation’s services unless you willing to give up your privacy.
Proton is not your friend, they have and will continue to betray their users. Do not trust them or any corporation that is not willing to fight for their users.
Operating in other countries means you do need to follow their laws in order to operate in them. Being a swiss company doesnt make them exempt from the laws of other countries, and not complying risks them losing business in other countries. Their products do work, but the user needs to use them correctly to not put themselves in a position where they can be traced. The activist clearly wasnt using a vpn when accessing their email.
I do agree, dont trust proton, never trust any corporation, but i also know enough about how their tech works and how to manage my own online privacy that I know they arent just blowing smoke. I would much rather have proton comply with the law and continue to be accessible for most of the world, than have them fight for a single user who could have done more to protect themselves and potentially lose the ability to run their services for other countries. Most people arent self hosting, so they cant run their own secure services. Proton is a much better option than the fascist bowing corpos who run most of the tech world. Until self hosting becomes accessible for regular people, I will continue to recommend proton as the easiest option to have secure services with.
Corporations can and do fight for their users. Proton is not one of these companies. I think that says all we need to know about their commitments to their users. You are welcome to continue leading people to a business that have shown that they are not willing to do what is right because profit is their primary motivation.