Proton Mail was started in 2014. Its launch was successful but a modest one. The company started from a cafeteria and had to crowdfund when they ran out of servers.
Fast forward a few years, it is now so loved by millions of its users that most of them think Proton Mail can beat Gmail. Are people overestimating Proton Mail?
Let’s take a look…
Benefits of Proton Mail
Down below is a list of five benefits of Proton Mail. Read them and decide whether these features are worth making the switch from Gmail to Proton Mail:
1. With Love, From Switzerland
We subconsciously imagine that these new-age digital companies exist only in the digital ether. Somewhere in the digital ‘clouds.’ But that is not true. Ultimately, all the websites, apps, and data are stored in physical data centers. And these data centers should abide by the law of the land.
The physical location of a company matter more than people realize. If the Police knock on the door, the company has to answer. So, it is wise to get services from companies that are located in countries with privacy-friendly laws.
Proton Mail was incorporated in Switzerland. Its main office is also situated in Switzerland. If you choose Proton Mail, your data will be protected by strict Swiss privacy laws and Swiss neutrality which are more privacy-friendly than the laws of most other countries. Certainly more privacy-friendly than the USA, and most Asian and African countries.
Food for thought: How privacy-friendly are the laws of your country?
2. A Secure Communication, Finally
What can you expect from a company whose USP is privacy and security?
Privacy and security.
Keeping privacy aside for a minute, let’s talk about the security aspect first.
Proton Mail is especially loved by journalists, security experts, and activists. The reason is that it is one of the most secure Email Service Providers. It ensures the security of your data with the following features:
- Their code is transparent: All the apps of Proton Mail are open source. It means anyone can see their source code and check if there is any vulnerability. Recently, they passed an independent security audit.
- Encryption, from here to there: In the simplest terms, end-to-end encryption means encrypting data on your device and decrypting it when it reaches the receiver’s device. This way, even if hackers or governments compromise the servers and get hold of your email data, they can not read the content as it is encrypted.
- Who holds the keys? Your data is encrypted – cool. But who holds the key to its decryption? There are some companies that promise end-to-end encryption in their marketing campaigns. But their end-to-end encryption is not effective as they hold the keys instead of the users. Proton Mail is not one of those companies. Proton Mail works on zero-access architecture. Which means they don’t have the decryption keys. The keys lie in your device, not on the servers of Proton Mail.
3. Wall Between You & the World
What’s privacy? Merriam-Webster dictionary says it is the freedom from unauthorized intrusion.
In the case of email communication, unauthorized intrusion comes either from governments or from email service providers themselves. Governments push tech companies to create backchannels and give them access to people’s private conversations. Tech companies themselves scan our emails to serve targeted ads.
But Proton Mail simply stops unauthorized intrusion with end-to-end encryption and zero-access architecture.
No matter what country and state you live in, your government is most probably twisting the arm of internet companies to hand in your data. Data like what websites you visit, who you talk to, and what you talk about. Email is also a part of that.
4. Peace of Mind
Do you know that the marketing emails you get, and newsletters you read often contain something called tracking pixels? Once you open an email containing tracking pixel, the email sender will know that you have opened the email. How creepy does that sound?
Proton Mail comes with an inbuilt tracking blocker. Once the email lands in your inbox, it can not contact back to its master. And you get the peace of mind that nothing shady is happening in your email inbox.
5. VPN, Calendar, Drive, and Anonymity
Proton Mail works on the freemium model. You can either choose the free plan that comes with some restrictions. Or you can choose one of the premium plans in which you also get other Proton services such as Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, and Proton Drive.
And one last thing. Some premium plans also offer unlimited email aliases. Email aliases are like disposable email masks you can put on your original email address. Once the need is fulfilled, you can dispose of the mask. It helps you in staying anonymous and stopping spam.
Conclusion (With My Opinion)
This article sounds like a sponsored post. But, sadly, it is not.
Proton Mail is really one of the best options if you want to use an email service provider that does not snoop in your inbox. And which does not let governments and hackers snoop in either.
I think you should invest a few dollars a month to protect your email privacy. You can either choose Proton Mail or go with its competitors such as Tutanota and Fastmail. But I, personally, use Proton Mail.
