404 Media
A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.
https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/
Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.

404 Media
Mar 6 at 11:25pmBuffer
Show threadLambdaMar 6
@404mediaco if you are not hosting it, your data is not safe
Show threadRedMar 6

@404mediaco This headline really throws me off because it's sensational at best, biased at worst, and not at all the attention-baiting nonsense I'd expect from 404 Media.

Did Proton "help the FBI"? Or did the Swiss government legally require them to turn over payment data, and the the Swiss helped the FBI?

Is the kind of payment data Proton collected publically disclosed in their ToS or Privacy Policy?

Are other "private" email services also beholden to laws which would require them to do the same in a similar situation? Is "privacy" the same as "anonimity", and is that relevant here?

Are there tools that activists should be using instead of Proton, which ones?

Be better.

Show threadKaoscMar 6
@r3dr3clus3 @404mediaco Thanks for the more nuanced take.
Show threadsilverwizardMar 6

@r3dr3clus3 @404mediaco I think there's a major nuance here.

Proton gave up the information. They did so in a right and proper way. It's newsworthy, and it doesn't make proton bad (in a new way), but it's still newsworthy it happened!

Show threadJoe BrockmeierMar 7

@silverwizard @r3dr3clus3 @404mediaco The headline does seem to put the “blame” on Proton here, which is (pardon the pun) unwarranted.

It’s, perhaps, newsworthy, but the emphasis could be better directed at the Swiss government. Why are they facilitating this? Of course Proton has to comply with the laws of the country they’re in - the real question is why a government outside the US is helping LE here in a matter that they really shouldn’t be?

Show threadsilverwizardMar 7
@jzb @r3dr3clus3 @404mediaco totally valid
Show threadartful modderMar 7
@r3dr3clus3 @404mediaco it's not you; they regularly engage in this behavior.
Show threadShattered HeartMar 6
@404mediaco so one has to ask how is it privacy focused when it doesn't fight for it's users privacy, especially in cases protesting the system that demands their users data. If nothing else, it puts their users at a greater risk as these protesters are already being labeled terrorists without proof.
Show threadRedMar 7

@Sh4d0w_H34rt Privacy != Anonimity.

Proton (and I expect the other privacy focused email providers) are forward about what information they collect and on what grounds they'll have to surrender what they have.

These services are still extremely private, especially by comparison, but they are all subject to local &/or international law.

Sadly, it's up to us as individuals to be aware of all thay and take steps to mitigate it, and choose services that best fit our goals.

Paying for a "private" email service that may be used to organize protests or civil disobedience with a personal credit card is probably not the move.

While I haven't investigated it, riseup[.] net has come to me attention as a provider of interest in that area.

Show threadAdiConMar 7

@404mediaco

Some clarifications regarding the incident:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/1rlt75p/comment/o8uhkhq/

Show threadGiant Pink Robots!Mar 8
@404mediaco An extremely misleading headline. It was the Swiss government that ordered Proton to hand over the data which is not up to them to decide. The fact that the article content is paywalled also doesn't help.