Post #1141675 · Elektrine

2026-03-12 09:40 UTC

This is why it's always struck me as unreasonable for proton to claim they care about user privacy. If they did, they wouldn't provide an email service, as it is inherently impossible to adaquately protect the metadata if it is sent to a different mail server. A better approach would be for them to explain why you can have email or privacy, but not both, and to point people to a separate service if they insist on email, so it is decoupled from any of their other services. Accepting payment through a means that isn't tied to your personal identity would be a good step too.

Replies (2)

@JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world 2026-03-12 10:51

> Accepting payment through a means that isn't tied to your personal identity would be a good step too. They do accept bitcoin, and if that's not private enough, they also let you [mail them cash](https://proton.me/support/payment-options#cash) in an envelope.

Open ##1141705
@dev_null@lemmy.ml 2026-03-12 15:30

That seems a little disingenuous. Just because email can't be protected well in most cases, doesn't mean you can't have a service that cares about privacy and does whatever is possible. Google can train AI on your email, and then when I go make an alternative that doesn't do that, you will say I don't care about privacy? What is that, no true Scotsman? Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Even with all these issues, Proton is more private than Gmail.

Open ##1141709