266
submitted 2 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Summary

Proton Mail, known for its privacy-first email services, faced backlash after CEO Andy Yen praised the Republican Party and its antitrust stance.

The company initially posted and deleted a statement supporting Yen’s comments, later claiming an “internal miscommunication” and reiterating its political neutrality.

Critics question Proton’s impartiality, particularly as it cooperates with Swiss authorities on legal data requests.

Privacy advocates warn that political alignments could undermine trust, especially for Proton’s users—journalists and activists wary of government surveillance under administrations like Trump’s.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] BroBot9000@lemmy.world 90 points 2 months ago

Yeah this is a masks off moment for them and people better be paying attention!

[-] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 73 points 2 months ago

Just when I'm done migrating all my email shit to Proton, the CEO turns out to be a nazi. A classic.

[-] wax@feddit.nu 21 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Same. Considered getting a domain for my email, but ended up just switching directly to the protonmail domain. Regretting that now.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 months ago

Getting your own domain is the best thing you can do, regardless of provider - it means they can't lock you in anymore.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago

I gotta get a personal domain just for email, I don't really want my personal life mixed in with our small business domain; both due to the nature of the products and because I don't want to dox myself on either side of the work/life gulf. It's a shame too, because I am actually proud of our garage business.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago

I totally get that; I have three domains (work, personal, and one only for online services / aliases)

[-] wax@feddit.nu 3 points 2 months ago

And the main reason I didn't get a domain? Because I couldn't come up with a good domain name. Naming stuff is always hard.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It is hard. I made up a name that sounds like it would be a webmail provider (it has "mail" in the name).

[-] Rogue@feddit.uk 2 points 2 months ago

Surely the point of your own domain is to personalise it? Why would you go for something generic?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Only way to make sure your email isn’t run by a Nazi is to run it yourself.

Unless you’re a Nazi in which case FUCK OFF

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] DahGangalang@infosec.pub 6 points 2 months ago

#BigSame Friend.

I was looking at Tutanota for a bit. Guess I'm need to bust open that research again.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Signed up last month because I had something to protect. Looking into Tuta. Anyone know a comparable free vpn?

load more comments (14 replies)
[-] Kanzar@sh.itjust.works 71 points 2 months ago

"If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

-Desmond Tutu

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 53 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Swiss company says "Nazi's aren't so bad."

The more things change the more they stay the same.

When they say they're "neutral" lets not forget what "neutral" meant during World War II. It meant making a fucking shitload of money at the expense of the rest of Europe.

Also, the geography of Switzerland is how they were able to convince Germany to not invade. A few US Nukes dropped from the sky make their geography a moot fucking point this time around.

[-] horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago
[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ZeroCool@slrpnk.net 36 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yep, I moved to tuta the day Andy decided to out himself as a MAGA dipshit. The only way I’d go back is if he resigned. At the absolute minimum Andy Yen has shown extremely poor judgement in claiming republicans are the party concerned with people’s digital rights. That tells me he fundamentally does not know what he’s talking about, and I do not trust Proton under his leadership anymore.

As a side note, If anyone’s looking for a VPN alternative, I highly recommend Mullvad.

[-] gazoinksboe@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

What are your thoughts on Tuta so far?

[-] blakenong@lemmings.world 5 points 2 months ago

If your goal is basic mail, with standard features, Tuta is great. The free option is more than enough for an anonymous email.

If you want to pay a little you can move your domain over and get a bunch more features.

If you appreciate a simple interface, Tuta will be perfect. They have apps for desktops and phones as well as web.

[-] gazoinksboe@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

I appreciate the response!

[-] Senseless@feddit.org 4 points 2 months ago

Been running my own domain from Tuta for about a year now. Had no issues so far.

[-] ZeroCool@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It seems like a good alternative but I honestly haven’t used it enough over the last two weeks to feel comfortable recommending it to people yet. Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but there’s a free tier so there’s no downside in giving Tuta a shot for a bit.

[-] gazoinksboe@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Thank you for the response. I’ll probably give it a try since my needs are simple

[-] DahGangalang@infosec.pub 3 points 2 months ago

Commenting so I can come back to this because hell if I'm going to remember to check it if I just save the comment.

Thank you for your assistance on the matter.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 30 points 2 months ago

The sort of Swiss neutrality that doesn't care whose teeth the gold is from.

[-] NOT_RICK_SANCHEZ@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

Good news for them, I’m “financially neutral”

[-] MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

My renewal of proton VPN is entirely dependent on who the ceo is when it's time for me to renew.

If fuckface is still there, I'll move on.

I'm fickle that way.

[-] BassTurd@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

The number of places I can do business with is dropping drastically. I'm going to have to start making my own clothes in the near future.

[-] FilthyHands@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 months ago

I was considering signing up, any alternatives?

[-] blakenong@lemmings.world 16 points 2 months ago
[-] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 13 points 2 months ago

For VPN there's mullvad, for email there's posteo, for storage I recommend signing up with disroot, for password storage I'd recommend KeePass or BitWarden/VaultWarden depending on your threat models and needs

[-] DahGangalang@infosec.pub 4 points 2 months ago

The real pain is going to be having those services split up so much.

Proton was really convenient for packaging those in a really convenient way.

Guess there's a business opportunity here?

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Some would say that is actually a pro, not a con. You don't want your entire digital life tied to the whims of a single corporation. Fragmentation trades a bit of inconvenience for a ton more privacy and control over your digital presence.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] letsgo2themall@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

I went with mailbox.org for mail, contacts, calendar. Keepass+syncthing for passwords. Still looking for VPN and file storage. I've been trying out nextcloud but there is a learning curve to host your own.

[-] scytale@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago

Mullvad is great for vpn.

[-] ctag@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 2 months ago

I've tried Proton mail and couldn't get comfortable with their UI. Have been on Fastmail for two years now and it's been excellent.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago

I'm back with Fastmail too, after having quit to go with Proton a while back. I never ran into a single email where the recipient was encrypted, so I've come to see the whole encrypted email shtick as mostly marketing.

[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

I tried proton and I couldn't get into using their service since it kept asking for personal information. I ended up not using it.

[-] Xanthrax@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'm curious, too. It was the only decent free vpn.

Edit: Why downvote?

[-] flabbergast@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Protrump Mail?

[-] diegantobass@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Welp... Just paid them 80€ for a year and was in the process of migrating my gmail accounts to it. I guess I just lost 80€ and I'm migrating to somewhere else then...

[-] gdbjr@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

You should be able to cancel and get a partial refund. Reach out and ask.

[-] Bahnd@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

And also during that discussion with their support team, state your reason for leaving. That will get a lot more attention than the rest of us whinging online where we can easily be ignored.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] rickdg@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

It’s bad but still so much better than google.

[-] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago

Okay, can someone help me, a tech illiterate, choose a new vpn, email provider, and password manager? I'd really prefer open source.

[-] vodka@lemm.ee 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Vpn: Mullvad

Email: Tuta / tutanota

Password manager: Bitwarden or 1password

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] FinnFooted@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

This is so disappointing. I've already migrated my passwords back to KeePass. Time to start hunting down other alternative. This is what I get for allowing myself the comfort of a centralized ecosystem.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
266 points (95.9% liked)

News

28317 readers
3950 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS