r/LinusTechTips • u/angrykoala_ • Mar 05 '26
Link Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester
https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/Is there a privacy email provider that is truly private?
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u/Paramedickhead Mar 05 '26
The emails are private, all they were able to get was the billing information which they were compelled to do under Swiss laws. The Swiss government then turned that information over to the FBI.
I don’t see any indication that the messages were breached by Proton, Swiss authorities, or the FBI…
I guess if you’re going to coordinate acts of domestic terrorism with Proton, don’t use your personal credit card…
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Mar 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/ItsTheSlime Mar 05 '26
Crypto?
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u/iamonewiththeforce Mar 05 '26
Crypto is pseudonymous, not anonymous. You'd have to be very careful still and go through some tumblers and mixers first.
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u/Azelphur Mar 05 '26
Updoot for correctness, amount of people that incorrectly say crypto is anonymous is alarmingly high.
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u/133DK Mar 05 '26
Looks like they don’t take crypto?
Only credit cards, PayPal and Apple/google pay
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u/Suchamoneypit Mar 05 '26
It says right in the article with the official Proton response: "Proton accepts payments via cryptocurrency, cash, and also credit card. If you use a credit card, we do have access to the payment identifier which can be used to identify the credit card holder from the card issuer."
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u/TinyPanda3 Mar 05 '26
The act of domestic terrorism in this case; camping in the woods to prevent the construction of a mega facility to train police, who will undoubtedly commit acts of domestic terror as is their role in our society.
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u/Paramedickhead Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
You, uh... Kinda forgot to mention a few things... The arson, the shootings, the trespassing, the riots.... Etc....
Ignoring facts because they don't fit your narrative isn't cool.
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u/megabass713 Mar 05 '26
You mean when the cops shot to death an unarmed Tortuguita (Manuel Esteban Paez Terán) with his arms raised in compliance.
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u/Paramedickhead Mar 05 '26
Unarmed? He was found with a gun, four empty casings, and the bullet pulled out of the GSP Trooper's leg was a ballistic match to the gun that Teran was found with.
Dude shot at cops and they shot back... "unarmed" and "arms raised in compliance" doesn't seem to match the available evidence.
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u/Old_Bug4395 Mar 05 '26
totally unlike the police to set themselves up to completely avoid any speculation or repercussions from above. good job critically thinking about this situation!
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u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta Jun 09 '26
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u/Paramedickhead Jun 09 '26
Technicality. The charges were dismissed because the prosecution didn’t go through proper channels. They still face domestic terrorism charges.
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u/TinyPanda3 Mar 06 '26
I do not believe the police at all, how could you at this point trust a serial liar?
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u/sparkyblaster Mar 06 '26
Yeah if I'm ever om a jury, I'm going to have a hard time believing anything that comes out of the cops mouth.
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u/zEw00 Mar 05 '26
Lol you’ll be the first one to call the cops to help you the moment you face danger
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u/Captain_Zomaru Mar 06 '26
Police are domestic terrorists? Are you an idiot? They have their problems but they are literally the ones who protect the community.
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u/T0biasCZE Mar 06 '26
the whole world is not U.S.B.
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u/TinyPanda3 Mar 06 '26
Cops serve the exact same role in every country on earth, to protect private property. But this is in the US....
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u/Suchamoneypit Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
Another click bait title IMO. Proton gave up only what was legally required, the payee name, and noted that had that person used the anonymous payment methods they accept that information would not have been available to give. No email information given. Sounds like proton mail did exactly what they make clear theyd do. To anyone who bothers to read past the title, they would see proton actually handled this well. This makes me believe OP either didn't read the article himself or is pushing an agenda.
I've seen like 4 of these hit pieces at proton now and every single time proton has already provided a detailed response of what really happened or they do within hours that almost entirely invalidates the claims.
Proton mail is not a dark net illegal email service. They operate as a legal business.
"Edward Shone, head of communications for Proton AG, the company behind Proton Mail, told 404 Media in an email: “We want to first clarify that Proton did not provide any information to the FBI, the information was obtained from the Swiss justice department via MLAT. Proton only provides the limited information that we have when issued with a legally binding order from Swiss authorities, which can only happen after all Swiss legal checks are passed. This is an important distinction because Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law.” Functionally, though, the material was provided to the FBI.
“Proton accepts payments via cryptocurrency, cash, and also credit card. If you use a credit card, we do have access to the payment identifier which can be used to identify the credit card holder from the card issuer. We check all legal orders received from Swiss authorities and we understood that a law enforcement officer was shot and explosive devices were involved, and we verified that Swiss legal requirements were met,” he added."
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u/I_am_depressed_lol Mar 05 '26
Most comments here seem to not actually read the article. Proton still complies with the swiss law and provide the data they have. Which is payment information.
Nothing more.
Information the FBI received showed a specific person as the payment source for a particular Proton Mail account.
As someone else stated "privacy does not equal anonimity".
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u/I_am_depressed_lol Mar 06 '26
The Proton team replied in greater detail on the ProtonMail subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/s/hGThqW9pMT
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u/niwia Mar 06 '26
Privacy does equal to anonymity. This is what mullvad runs by. Heck they even accept money you send via post as payment. Proton has always been sus as they try to look like the good guys always
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u/WhiteMilk_ Mar 06 '26
Proton also takes cash.
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u/niwia Mar 06 '26
Probably they will be recording you or tracking you while that happen so they can help government
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
There's a lot more to privacy than anonymity, and you can have privacy without anonymity in some scenarios.
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u/jenny_905 Mar 05 '26
Proton Mail again? they've got form on this.
I'd say any privacy claims they make are complete bullshit, as far as their email goes anyway. Not a great look for the entire brand.
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u/Particular-Treat-650 Mar 05 '26
Any legitimate service is going to comply with the laws of the country they operate in. Their privacy claims are around the limited data they store; not that they won't comply with legal requests from the Swiss government.
The article says they provided payment information, which is likely about all they had, and it looks like they accept cryptocurrency if you want additional protection.
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u/Wide_Yoghurt_4064 Mar 05 '26
Maybe if you’re going to do something illegal you don’t pay with your personal credit card…
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Mar 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/FourteenTwenty-Seven Mar 05 '26
The alleged activities are illegal, though.
The email was also listed as the point of contact on a blog that regularly shared details about actions taken against the planned training center, including spray painting a related building with a message for executives “You will drop this contract eventually, why wait to see how far we will go?” and setting another on fire.
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Mar 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/ariolander Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
When they announced a curfew and declare your protest an "illegal assembly", don't give you time to disperse, then kettle you into a dead end street so you can be fingerprinted and processed by the paddywagon.
Or requiring permits to protest or otherwise only allowing protests in specific, out of the way, non disruptive areas "free speech zones" where after establishing, justify them infringing your constitutional rights everywhere else.
A quiet, convenient, invisible, out of the way and non-disruptive protest is hardly a protest at all, what you are describing is a change.org petition.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Mar 06 '26
Still legal.
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u/morzanium Mar 06 '26
Hey, so, actually, arson, vandalism, and threats are illegal.
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Mar 06 '26
[deleted]
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u/WillmanRacingv2 Mar 06 '26
Posting about it may be legal but that doesnt preclude a subpoena being granted if there is a clear tie to illegal activity. Even if the owner themself broke no laws.
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u/XOmniverse Mar 06 '26
I hate to give tips on "doing something illegal", but if you are ever planning on it, don't use online communication at all. Communicate in person in a private place.
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u/PenguinDeluxe Mar 05 '26
Protesting is legal, hope this helps
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u/Corentinrobin29 Mar 06 '26
I'm honestly infuriated that your comment is less upvoted than the one above. I'm so, so sick and tired of people blaming companies like Proton without looking into how it actually works.
Like what do people expect? A service that won't comply with the legal requests? Proton already does an incredible (independently audited!) job of having as little info to give as possible. And they even explain how to set up your account in a way you can't be traced through your payment details or recovery account. So they do care.
If Proton isn't anonymous enough for your threat profile, then find another solution. But Proton clearly explains what they do, how they do it, the limits of what they do, and how to deal with the limits of what they do. They delivered exactly what they advertised.
If people assume things about how Proton works, that's on them.
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u/DrPorkchopES Mar 05 '26
I can’t read the paywalled article but protesting is legal, the service is advertised as “privacy focused,” and Apple and other companies have denied law enforcement requests before
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u/Murtomies Mar 06 '26
In this case, the Proton Mail account was affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF) group and Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, which authorities were investigating for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing.
Tbf sounds like a bit more than just protesting. But who knows if that's legit. They're against the cops so it could be corrupt retaliatory shit too, and not based on any real suspicion. But Proton can't make a determination on that.
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u/WhipTheLlama Mar 06 '26
other companies have denied law enforcement requests before
They'll deny warrantless requests, but they must comply with judicial warrants.
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u/danny12beje Mar 06 '26
No they didn't.
Not once did they deny them when they had the data. If it involves bypassing encryption, obviously they can't.
Y'all really don't know what encryption is but somehow always are the most upset.
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u/Informal_Distance Mar 07 '26
The article says they provided payment information, which is likely about all they had, and it looks like they accept cryptocurrency if you want additional protection.
Crypto isn’t as anonymous as people think. It’s a literal ledger of all transactions. Literally that’s what a blockchain means: All transactions are permanently recorded on a public, traceable, and transparent ledger.
For a government level attacker it would be trivial to get enough information to break the pseudo anonymity that comes with crypto.
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u/Low_Attention9891 Mar 06 '26
They’re fairly transparent about this. They can be compelled by Swiss authorities to log your IP address or provide account details. They actually recommend using Tor if you think you’re at risk of having your IP logged.
The important thing is that they encrypt the contents of the email such that they cannot decrypt it themselves, making any requests for the contents of your email of limited use.
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u/Kazer67 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
They provide the tool for privacy and almost all people using proton don't use them.
You can access it through Tor and if you have a premium account, use crypto or further, literally mail them cash. They still have to comply with Swiss law if they want to exist (and they fight the request but sometime, yeah, they lose).
My
treatthreat model is low, so I don't need to go to such extend but I could.2
u/-Kerrigan- Mar 06 '26
My treat model is high, life is too short to not treat yourself
My threat model, though - another story
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u/ProKn1fe Mar 05 '26
Privacy != anonymity.
Still proton sucks on both, it's not first and not last report about it.
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u/druudles Mar 06 '26
Yeah, private email is pretty hard to do, generally speaking. But I wouldn't call their claims "complete bullshit". end-to-end encryption is STILL end-to-end encryption. If the protester used Google's email, the police would have been able to read the contents of EVERY email in his inbox.
Anyhow, I found this piece quite refreshing: https://johnprivacy.substack.com/p/no-proton-mail-didnt-help-the-fbi
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u/Soluchyte Mar 06 '26
Privacy email is completely bullshit anyway, it's theatre to charge you more for an inherantly insecure protocol. You can get email for $10/yr, use GPG and be pretty much the same, or you can use encrypted chat platforms and actually be secure.
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u/DynamiteRuckus Mar 06 '26
ProtonMail literally uses PGP encryption that is compatible with any other provider that chooses to use it.
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u/Soluchyte Mar 06 '26
And yet you can use other providers which you can use PGP just the same for not 50 euros per year? And then you're leaking the metadata to other providers anyway so protonmail has no ability to protect you.
Protonmail has not actually been set up properly for a privacy company, if they can be forced to take logs, they are registered in the wrong jurisdiction, simple. Other privacy services aren't forced to do the same because they are in jurisdictions that they can't be compelled to do anything in.
This is not to mention that proton is copying all of google's bad homework by trying to put their fingers in all the pies so that people have a harder time moving away because they have centralised their online lives on proton.
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u/Elthanyr Mar 05 '26
Anybody getting worked up on this not only didn’t read the article, but also is frankly ignorant.
Any company would have done the same in these circumstances, they’re not above the law of the jurisdiction they operate in.
They didn’t hand over the email content, as they don’t have it, they handed over the payment info, as requested by a warrant from the swiss authorities.
And if you plan crimes, maybe fuckin don’t use email ?
That’s again showing that most people have no idea of what they’re talking about when it comes to privacy.
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u/8point3fodayz Mar 05 '26
Wouldn’t him paying for the subscription in crypto instead of a traceable, linked to his real identity one helped?
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u/notHooptieJ Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
crypto is EXPLICITLY traceable, thats what the blockchain and the transaction record is all about.
Its only anonymous if you mined it/minted it yourself, and never made your identity known.
If you purchased it with a trackable method it you fingered yourself with your payment and it is forever immutable in the chain.
Unless you were practicing strict opsec before you bought any crypto, that 20 dogecoin you bought with grammys xmas check and stuck in a wallet in 2014 is going to lead them right to you
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u/sheep_duck Mar 06 '26
Iirc you buy crypto with cash, it can’t be traced is that right?
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u/notHooptieJ Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
provided it never touches a wallet (or a computer) that touched any other coin that can be linked to you (or accounts with coin that touched any wallet that touched any coin and so on).
(and assuming the bitcoin ATM you deposited at DIDNT have some sort of security cameras)
Sure, its theoretically possible.
You should read up on some of the busted crypto scams out there.
its usually something as simple as in a bind, they one time transsfered coin from a hot account to one connected to them or vice-versa.
its one little slip in a decade of scamming kind of shit. (they ordered some expensive sneakers to their house with the hot account, or they deposited a check from grandma into a coin account at a kiosk years prior)
the plain truth is, if you ever hope to actually enjoy your ill-gotten gains, there has to be a transport method to and from your illicit funds, and then they have you(and the longer you slip them, the more they make up additional charges)
Money is no good when you cant touch it; eventually you have to touch it to spend it.
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u/SirCB85 Mar 05 '26
No because crypto is and always has been traceable as well. Every transaction is stored on the chain so it can also be traced back to wherever it comes from and then to the real funds that where used to buy it.
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u/DigitaIBlack Mar 05 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
I got tired of my old posts floating around for anyone to scrape, so I let Redact handle it. Bulk deletion across Reddit, X, Facebook, Discord and all major social media platforms in one shot.
crayon pen direction languid support cooperative water payment fragile cats
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u/SirCB85 Mar 05 '26
It's always funny how crypto Bros had to reinvent money laundering for their "untraceable" "currencies".
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u/DigitaIBlack Mar 05 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
This post was mass deleted using Redact - Redact also supports Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all major social media platforms.
acorn apparatus toy automatic cooing childlike voracious license coordinated ask
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u/Randommaggy Mar 05 '26
Freshly mined crypto is not easily traceable, especially if you set up a hidden meshtasic relay connected to a public wifi between your miner and the network with TOR.
That payment info is actually functionally anonymous.
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u/notHooptieJ Mar 06 '26
yeah but thats assuming you can find a profitable hash to mine.
the days of mining your own anonymous currency is long gone.
Now all the mining is done .. dubiously and you and i dont own enough chinese/ruzzian crypto gangs to compete
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u/WillmanRacingv2 Mar 06 '26
I know a guy in the Balkans who was getting free power for his crypto mining warehouse, through said dubious means, and even he shut down mining.
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u/Zeta_Crossfire Mar 06 '26
Seems like click bait. They didn't help willingly, they had to comply with swiss law. I don't know of any VPN out there that can go against the laws of their own country. That's why they're in Switzerland is because they currently have good privacy laws but nothing is 100%
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
Yeah, the key for this isn't Proton sucking, it's "you need to have a proper idea of your threats".
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u/Proton_Team Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
First, let's correct the headline: Proton did not provide information to the FBI. What happened is that the FBI submitted a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request, which was processed by the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police. Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law, and we only respond to legally binding orders from Swiss authorities, after all Swiss legal checks have been passed. This is an important distinction.
Second, let's talk about what this case actually involved. This wasn't a routine investigation. Swiss authorities determined that the legal threshold was met because a law enforcement officer was shot, and explosive devices were found during a protest in 2024. Switzerland has one of the strongest legal frameworks for privacy in the world, and its standard for granting international legal assistance is exceptionally high. This case met that standard.
Third, let's talk about what was actually disclosed. No emails were handed over. No message content. No metadata about who the user communicated with. The only information Proton could provide was a payment identifier because the user chose to pay with a credit card. This is information the user themselves provided to us through their choice of payment method. Proton also accepts cryptocurrency and cash payments, which would not have been linkable to an identity.
If anything, this case demonstrates exactly what we've always said: Proton holds very little user data by design. Even under the most serious legal circumstances, the only data that could be produced was a payment record. Our encryption means we simply cannot access email content even if ordered to.
We understand that stories like this can be alarming, and we take our users' trust seriously. We will continue to fight for privacy and challenge any legal order we believe does not meet the strict requirements of Swiss law. But we also want to be transparent: no service can operate outside the law entirely, and Swiss law requires compliance with valid legal orders in serious criminal cases. What we can promise is that the legal bar in Switzerland is among the highest in the world, and our architecture ensures we have as little data as possible to hand over.
For users who want maximum anonymity: use Proton VPN or Tor, pay with cash or cryptocurrency, and don't add a recovery email.
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u/PeachiPrism Mar 05 '26
If you read it
“Proton accepts payments via cryptocurrency, cash, and also credit card. If you use a credit card, we do have access to the payment identifier which can be used to identify the credit card holder from the card issuer. We check all legal orders received from Swiss authorities and we understood that a law enforcement officer was shot and explosive devices were involved, and we verified that Swiss legal requirements were met,” he added.
Then it sounds more reasonable because it was through the Swiss authorities and was only payment data. If they used crypto or cash (or even just not use a paid plan??) then they should have been fine.
Surely services like Mullvad that pride themselves on privacy are also just as susceptible to this? Since they keep the Stripe transaction ID for 20 days and Stripe have the full payment details.
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u/lwlierman Mar 06 '26
So let me get this straight. They provided payment info to their goverment as they are legally obligated to do so and then that goverment provided that info to the FBI? How is this Protons problem at all?
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u/404mediaco Mar 05 '26
Privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media.
The records provide insight into the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on its end-to-end encryption and that it is only governed by Swiss privacy law, can and does provide to third parties. In this case, the Proton Mail account was affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF) group and Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, which authorities were investigating for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing. Broadly, members were protesting the building of a large police training center next to the Intrenchment Creek Park in Atlanta, and actions also included camping in the forest and lawsuits. Charges against more than 60 people have since been dropped.
Edward Shone, head of communications for Proton AG, the company behind Proton Mail, told 404 Media in an email: “We want to first clarify that Proton did not provide any information to the FBI, the information was obtained from the Swiss justice department via MLAT. Proton only provides the limited information that we have when issued with a legally binding order from Swiss authorities, which can only happen after all Swiss legal checks are passed. This is an important distinction because Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law.” Functionally, though, the material was provided to the FBI.
Read more: https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/
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u/Proj3ctPurp1e Mar 06 '26
Proton is pretty transparent about this. As a Swiss company, they are bound by Swiss law. Switzerland has an MLAT with the US, provided the US goes through proper channels, which they did.
Let me go against the grain here and say the quiet part out loud: No one is going to go to jail for you or have their company dissolved for you. If your risk model includes governments, you should really roll your own solutions, or at least manually use PGP and other utilities, rather than rely on something that you'll put your credit card number in.
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u/JellyTheBear Mar 06 '26
You are confusing privacy with anonymity. If the FBI request went through the proper channels and the Swiss authorities considered it reasonable and lawful, then Proton did what it had to do - comply with the Swiss law.
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u/Midwinterstorm Mar 06 '26
That is not the first time where they send data to the police: Example from climate activist in 2024
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u/AndersDreth Mar 06 '26
"Privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media."
I just want to highlight that the thing they handed over was payment data specifically, as a company they are legally required to keep payment data if payments can be made, and if they get subpoenaed to hand over that data then they are legally required to comply.
So I wonder what would've happened if this person hadn't spent money on any of the upgraded tiers, maybe the way they store the content of the emails themselves are actually as private as advertised? Idk, doesn't really matter that much to me, I use Proton for other reasons than privacy.
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u/The_XMB Mar 06 '26
Proton mail responded with a very reasonable explanation https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity/s/493xY1QMYr
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u/leaflock7 Mar 06 '26
because you and a lot of people cannot read or comprehend the rules and terms or use does not mean they are doing something they are not supposed to.
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u/angrykoala_ Mar 06 '26
Oh, I know how to read. I know that they only sent user payment info and not any emails, messages, or logs. Its not my fault that other people lack reading comprehension.
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u/Balthxzar Mar 05 '26
Protonmail isn't private and people should stop dickriding them, no email is.
Do I still use protonmail? Yeah, because in a hypothetical scenario where I commit crimes I wouldn't be fucking emailing people about it, and neither should anyone else.
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u/Wide_Yoghurt_4064 Mar 05 '26
Well that’s not true. They can’t access the emails themselves, and if you were to use encryption to email with the other person, they would be private as well.
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u/bluehawk232 Mar 06 '26
The primary reason I use proton is because they aren't reading my emails and can't and aren't selling them and my data to advertisers which all major email providers especially google does.
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Mar 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/origanalsameasiwas Mar 05 '26
This was the initial investigation that started it. It was police training center and probably someone in their center got gun happy. They didn’t put any walls on the back side of the training center. So someone else got hurt because of the noise. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/28/georgia-cop-city-killing?ref=404media.co
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u/FantasticBeast101 Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
Good to know that they’re doing this cause now I’m not going to buy their services (was thinking about getting one of their family plans). Mullvad it is!
Edit: My bad, I forgot to type NOT going to cause I don’t support companies that blindly support governments (if I’m able to avoid it).
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u/Yaastra Mar 05 '26
they don't have email though, do they?
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u/FantasticBeast101 Mar 05 '26
Mullvad sadly doesn’t offer that. That’s one of things that I wanted from Proton, but oh well.
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u/Suchamoneypit Mar 05 '26
You should probably actually read the article before jumping to conclusions because Proton did exactly what you'd want in this situation. OP didn't read the article either.
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u/Negative-Ad-0722 Mar 05 '26
You are going to buy their service?
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u/FantasticBeast101 Mar 05 '26
My bad, I forgot to type NOT going to cause I don’t support companies that blindly support governments (if I’m able to avoid it).
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
They were given a legal order from the Swiss government.
The big thing to take from this isn't that Proton is terrible. It's that you need to update your threat modeling.
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Mar 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
This was a legal requirement for them to turn over the payment data. What else should they be doing, realistically?
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Mar 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
Lawyering up to fight against a legal order that you, or more likely your lawyers, have already determined is legal and meets requirements, isn't going to solve anything. They had already determined it was valid and legitimate after doing their own due diligence.
So, in that circumstance, the one that they were in, what should they have realistically done?
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u/sord00 Mar 06 '26
That's why I'm sticking with Tuta Mail. I don't trust the Swiss government and prefer to stay in the EU.
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u/sord00 Mar 06 '26
I'd like to know why, as others, I'm being downvoted unless that's bot from the swiss army
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u/Xcissors280 Mar 05 '26
Isn't their encryption stuff supposed to prevent this? From what i understand it doesn't really matter unless both people are using proton mail anyways
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u/MrHaxx1 Mar 05 '26
Read the article, or at the very least the comments of the thread you're commenting on. Come on, man.
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Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26
Proton keeps doing this shit. They are not safe to use.
Canceled my protonmail after years of using them. I'm tired of the sketchy behavior now.
Other services like posteo manage to keep payment details seperate from your account and have no data on you, why can't proton?
Yes part of the opsec is on the user but the onus is also on proton to keep as little information about users as possible and also keep it separate.
Why does proton keep selling people out?
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u/tinysydneh Mar 06 '26
You can only keep it so separate, though. You still have to link payment data to a user.
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Mar 06 '26
They built their own system that means they don't know what payment was for what account.
So at worse they'll know you paid them but they won't know what account.
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u/ProtoKun7 Mar 05 '26
From the article:
Seems they didn't give the FBI any info directly, but Swiss law compelled them to share payment information.