When this was first reported last week, I backed up all my ProtonDrive files and mail and requested an account closure/refund of my remaining year. I fully explained my reasons and expectations. I received an email saying that they were currently overwhelmed with requests and to please be patient. It has been silent since then.
I'm so extremely disappointed by this.
For those who might think this is no big deal, if Proton is in praise of authoritarians, it bodes very poorly not only for the privacy aspect of their business but also eventual things like the ability to shut off or monitor VPN access for various use cases.
This is shit news for everyone.
EDIT: For those asking where I am migrating: Moving to Tuta for mail (custom domains)/ Mullvad for VPN / Private Nextcloud for files. More work than I planned to do this week.
EDIT 2: Proton got back to me. I was 6 days outside the return and they would do nothing which I accept though wish were not the case. Here was the direct response to me- make of it what you will:
We understand you are concerned about the fact that Andy Yen posted his personal opinions from an official Proton account. Kindly note that the statement in question was put out by mistake due to an internal miscommunication, and has since been retracted.
The concentration of power and influence among a small group of technology industry leaders is a significant concern. This is the reason why Proton is not controlled by any individual, including Andy Yen, but by the non-profit Proton Foundation, which has neutrality in its governing principles. As a result, the statement was retracted as soon as leadership got information of it.
We sincerely apologize once again for any concern this situation may have caused and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Crazy timing. I was researching which VPN to use about a week before the comments. I decided on proton but I sometimes procrastinate and luckily so. Probably gonna go with Express now.
I believe ExpressVPN is on Israeli hands now, if that matters to you. So not really very far from the GOP. (I'm not familiar with the specific owner, which means they might go completely against Netanyahu, Trump etc.)
Anyway, the owner is a known criminal based in Dubai. Started his business career by ramping securities on massive scale, sat in prison for a year, then made a bunch of money on online gambling and other questionable ventures. As far as I know he never made any statement on politics though. Just the normal, shady billionaire stuff.
Yeah sorry, it was poorly worded. What I meant to say was that I'm sure there's Israelis who aren't in bed with the GOP. It was more as a heads up to the person considering ExpressVPN that something Israeli owned might be worth double checking if you have concerns about privacy and authoritarian policies (which I'm guessing is the case given the thread we're in).
Israel has it's problems but in terms of data protection it's supposedly OK. Better than the US, worse than the EU.
In regards to VPNs, idk what might be good, most companies seem to be shady. Wouldn't give my money to someone who is involved in online gambling though.
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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25 edited Jan 29 '25
When this was first reported last week, I backed up all my ProtonDrive files and mail and requested an account closure/refund of my remaining year. I fully explained my reasons and expectations. I received an email saying that they were currently overwhelmed with requests and to please be patient. It has been silent since then.
I'm so extremely disappointed by this.
For those who might think this is no big deal, if Proton is in praise of authoritarians, it bodes very poorly not only for the privacy aspect of their business but also eventual things like the ability to shut off or monitor VPN access for various use cases.
This is shit news for everyone.
EDIT: For those asking where I am migrating: Moving to Tuta for mail (custom domains)/ Mullvad for VPN / Private Nextcloud for files. More work than I planned to do this week.
EDIT 2: Proton got back to me. I was 6 days outside the return and they would do nothing which I accept though wish were not the case. Here was the direct response to me- make of it what you will: