this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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Privacy

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I've been using Proton Mail and VPN for a while now, and I'm just wondering how everyone else feels about them. I have this kind of inherent alight distrust of them just because they seem like they offer a lot for free and kind of have a Big Tech vibe about them, but there's nothing for me to really substantiate that distrust with, its mostly just a feeling. That being said, I do use their services as mentioned and they work pretty well, even on the free teir. So aside from that one instance where they gave that guy's info to the feds, is there any reason not to trust them with my data?

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[–] leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 years ago

I feel the same OP. There's no good reason for it but I just don't trust them. I have no idea why.

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Ill get straight to the question: what should i use? I use proton currently but they are pretty sus.

[–] oij2@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Fastmail looks nice in terms of features/cost - it is also owned by the people who run it, which is a big green flag.

But I am in the same boat, looking for a new service, haven't made a switch yet

[–] Kalcifer@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

it is also owned by the people who run it

The ownership of a service, ideally, should make no difference to that service's trustworthiness.

[–] oij2@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That makes absolutely no sense - at the very least, this is unimplementable for an email provider.

I am trusting someone for my data. Ownership belonging to the people running it, who just want to make a living, has the meaning that our interests are better aligned than a multinational ad agency or a nation state whose subject I not even am. That relationship is more healthy, the contract is clearer and more balanced.

[–] Kalcifer@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

at the very least, this is unimplementable for an email provider.

If one ignores the collection of metadata, then this is the very purpose of PGP.

I am trusting someone for my data

The point that I am trying to make is that one should never have to trust someone with their data -- if all data is encrypted, for example, from a privacy perspective, it really doesn't matter where it is stored. Of course, metadata can still be gathered, but that is, in my opinion, a lesser issue, and the user has some, if not complete control over it.

I should also say that it depends on what you mean by "trust". My response, and original comment are under the assumption that "trust" is referring only to privacy.

[–] oij2@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

After the WhatsApp scandals, my trust in encryption is limited. I'm not a mathematician (which is a goddamn shame), and if there is a backdoor in the mathematics themselves, I wouldn't be able to catch it even if I read the source code. And there is always the possibility of decryption by quantum computers....

So where we store our data is very important, even if it is decrypted. Encryption is just a secondary defense, the primary is limiting the accessibility to the data itself. And where you store the data, and to whom you allow access, determines the accessibility

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 years ago

No, and I never will

[–] artaxthehappyhorse@lemmy.ml -2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I would think if someone's up to some actual shady shit that they don't want to draw the attention of any authorities, they'd be better off using a combination of several of the most popular web mail accounts, like Gmail, and manually encrypting the message before pasting it in or something I dunno, just bc it seems like surveillance systems become less effective with more collection volume, and Gmail has a lot of users

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