Very strict on confidentiality, Proton Mail disclosed the data of nearly 6,000 users to the authorities… but could it do otherwise?

The reputation of ProtonMail is no longer to be done. And yet, it begins to be put to the test, since the Swiss company reveals more and more user data. All she does is obey the law.

Proton Mail’s secure messaging service remains one of the most popular in the world today. Much more respectful of its users’ privacy than its competitors, it has made a name for itself since its launch in 2014. But despite its promises of securing and encrypting its users’ data, Proton Mail is not above the law. Depending on Swiss jurisdiction, the service cannot guarantee 100% data security. In 2022, the data of around 6,000 users were disclosed by legal order.

Relative confidentiality

As can be seen in the screenshot below (taken from the company’s transparency report Proton Technologies), the company presents three different types of data: the total number of data requested on legal orders, the number which was refused by Proton and the number that it was kind enough to give up. These three categories are increasing between 2020 and 2022. However, these figures still need to be put into perspective. Indeed, the share of disclosed data compared to legal requests has only seen a very small increase over three years. 80% in 2020, 78.7% in 2021, and 85.2% in 2022. With the number of users of the service also on the rise, it’s no wonder these numbers are on the rise as well.

However, even if Switzerland is rather famous for its rather favorable jurisdiction in terms of privacy, Proton Mail still cannot do as it sees fit. If requests for disclosures from the government are made to him under the law, he must comply with them.

When the FBI gets involved…

Proton Mail does not disclose its user data for fun or profit, quite the contrary. A recent example reported by the magazine Forbes presents a case where the FBI, among other investigations, was involved in such a request to Proton Technologies. The federal agency was investigating an individual who was being sued for harassment, and Proton was forced to release his email address. The user was identified thanks to this.

Should we be worried about this news? A priori, not really. Proton Mail remains a much more secure alternative to other services like Gmail or Yahoo, which care much less about the privacy of their users. Proton is also playing on this to recover users from its competitors. On the other hand, if you have something to reproach yourself from a legal point of view, know that Proton Mail will have to cooperate with the local legal authorities, like any other company.

Source : Restore Privacy