Proton Mail came under scrutiny for its role in a legal request by the Spanish authorities leading to the identification and arrest of a user.
      • Encrypt-KeeperEnglish
        4•6 months ago

        Wrong on both counts. Google on the other hand does everything you’ve accused proton of, and much, much more.

        • @CaptObvious@literature.cafeEnglish
          1•6 months ago

          Evidence? I’ll stipulate Google’s culpability. I never said that Gmail is better than Proton just that there’s not a lot of difference between them, Proton fanbois’ protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.

          • Encrypt-KeeperEnglish
            4•6 months ago

            The evidence is in the article above. They don’t cooperate with police requests for information, they only comply with legal orders from the Swiss judicial system. Google on the other hand not only works directly with police, but has been known to initiate contact with police, handing over the contents of entire accounts unprompted.

            Then there’s the fact that the metadata supplied by Proton in this case isn’t even required to use the platform. It’s an optional feature a user can opt into for usability, at the expense of a little anonymity.

            The differences between Proton and other providers like Google are immense. Proton can’t hand over the contents of your account because they don’t even have access to it. Google on the other hand has total access to all your data that they regularly abuse for profit, and will gladly hand over the entirety of to law enforcement. After all, the headline as posted to Lemmy here is misleading. The user wasn’t found out due to Proton, they were found out due to Apple. There’s your difference right there. They couldn’t do anything with the information they got from Proton directly, they had to link it to a different service that unlike Proton, handed over all the users information.

            • @CaptObvious@literature.cafeEnglish
              1•6 months ago

              So there’s no real evidence of Google doing what you accuse them of?

              Again, I’m no gigantic fan of Google, but they don’t seem any less reliable than Proton.

              • Encrypt-KeeperEnglish
                1•6 months ago

                https://policies.google.com/terms/information-requests

                Google can and will share not only metadata, but the full content of all data you have stored on Google servers, including emails, files, and photos. Proton on the other hand can’t share your emails, files or photos with anyone, even if they wanted to.

                https://www.koffellaw.com/blog/google-ai-technology-flags-dad-who-took-photos-o/

                Here’s one of a few cases where Google’s AI will analyze all photos and files you’ve uploaded to Google photos, google drive, or sent/received via Gmail, and can automatically close your account and will report you to authorities. In this particular case, after being alerted by Google, local authorities investigated and found that no crime had occurred. Yet they never restored access to his account. Proton once again doesn’t even have access to the content of the files you upload to their drive offering.

                The differences between these two companies are inarguably vast. Suggesting otherwise is absurd. Yet accounts like yours fight tooth and nail to spread misinformation to discredit privacy-centric service companies. Makes me wonder what your real motives are, because privacy is not one of them.

      • Christoph Schmees
        3•6 months ago

        @CaptObvious
        No, not “for the asking” but only on court order. And they even challenge those, see transparency report.
        And targeted advertising be the lesser evil? I beg to differ.
        Google combines everything they know from tracking you. And that’s a lot if you don’t fight against it. I for one had two evil experiences with them: (German):
        https://www.pc-fluesterer.info/wordpress/vorbeugen/e-mail/e-mail-und-privatsphaere/ (further links inside).
        And you have nothing to hide?
        Oh well.

        • @CaptObvious@literature.cafeEnglish
          1•6 months ago

          Spanish police asked for a court order which was apparently easy to get. So yes, for the asking.

          I never said I have nothing to hide. I said I don’t trust any online service to keep it a secret. And if it’s really important, I sure as hell won’t send it on a postcard (email).