Update:
Proton removed their response (link below) from Mastodon, seems they realized it exploded into their face.
Original toot:
After I had given #Protonmail the benefit of the doubt for one board member making inconsiderate and alarming statements on #MAGA #Trump, they have doubled down officially:
https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503
I therefore consider this official opinion of Proton. Focussing on one aspect and completely ignoring the bigger picture of a luming fascist period in the most militarized economy of the world is just inacceptable. Proton just could have kept their mouth shut, but they decided not to.
Thanks for revealing yourselves and happy to end my subscription, I won't support a company like you until you do better @protonprivacy
Please boost to spread this news if you find this important.
@kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral
@linuzifer
#ProtonExodus #Proton #E2E #Email #Privacy #Infosec
Proton removed their response (link below) from Mastodon, seems they realized it exploded into their face.
Original toot:
After I had given #Protonmail the benefit of the doubt for one board member making inconsiderate and alarming statements on #MAGA #Trump, they have doubled down officially:
https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503
I therefore consider this official opinion of Proton. Focussing on one aspect and completely ignoring the bigger picture of a luming fascist period in the most militarized economy of the world is just inacceptable. Proton just could have kept their mouth shut, but they decided not to.
Thanks for revealing yourselves and happy to end my subscription, I won't support a company like you until you do better @protonprivacy
Please boost to spread this news if you find this important.
@kuketzblog @chpietsch @aral
@linuzifer
#ProtonExodus #Proton #E2E #Email #Privacy #Infosec
Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (1 Woche her)
Benedikt •
Here is a screenshot of their now erased reply:
LukefromDC •
The main issue I see here is saying anything positive about J D Vance.
If Trump first makes himself President for Life, then dies in office, this man could become King. He is a lethally dangerous theocrat comparable to the worst of Daesh on such issues as women's rights and LGBTQ issues.
A broken clock is right twice a day, but doing anything that boosts Vance is dangerous.
That said, we have very few non ad supported much less end to end encrypted email providers who are widely known. Hushmail has been considered compromised for decades. Tutanota accounts are hard to set up. ANYONE demanding SMS verification is an unacceptable risk unless you can afford to use a burn phone for this, then smash and trash it. Google et all are 100% out of the question.
Keep in mind, a free Protonmail account does not reward their leaders for favoring Vance. If you have a paid account, consider emptying out the storage and reverting to free status. This moves you from cash source to cash sink as the server bandwidth is not free.
Then there are the telecoms. Unless we are on a mesh network using distributed hosting and activist owned servers only, we have to deal with using enemy-owned assets for our own communications. This carries inherent risks that among other things raise the importance of end to end encryption.
It is because of people like Vance that we are probably going to war. We cannot fight that war with voluntarily reduced military assets. Remember that encryption was once considered a munition and it still is a good and effective one. Its better compared to armor than shell of course.
Many are using Proton as an armorer out of necessity. Survival for many depends on winning this war.
Benedikt •
Andy Yen on Reddit, 2025-01-16,
"On Politics and Proton - a message from Andy
Hi all, last night, a post from last year from my personal X account suddenly became a topic of discussion here on Reddit. I want to share a few thoughts on this to provide clarity to the community on what is Proton's policy on politics going forward.
First, while the X post was not intended to be a political statement, I can understand how it can be interpreted as such, and it therefore should not have been made. While we will not prohibit all employees from expressing personal political opinions publicly, it is something I will personally avoid in the future. I lean left on some issues, and right on other issues, but it doesn't serve our mission to publicly debate this. It should be obvious, but I will
1/n
Benedikt •
say that it is a false equivalence to say that agreeing with Republicans on one specific issue (antitrust enforcement to protect small companies) is equal to endorsing the entire Republican party platform.
Second, officially Proton must always be politically neutral, and while we may share facts and analysis, our policy going forward will be to share no opinions of a political nature. The line between facts, analysis, and opinions can be blurry at times, but we will seek to better clarify this over time through your feedback and input.
The exception to these rules is on the topics of privacy, security, and freedom. These are necessarily political topics, where influencing public policy to defend these values, often requires engaging politically.
2/
Benedikt •
The operations of Proton have always reflected our neutrality. For example, recently we refused pressure to deplatform both Palestinian student groups and Zionist student groups, not because we necessarily agreed with their views, but because we believe more strongly in their right to have their own views.
It is also a legal guarantee under Swiss law, which explicitly prohibits us from assisting foreign governments or agencies, and allows us no discretion to show favoritism as Swiss law and Swiss courts have the final say.
The promise we make is that no matter your politics, you will always be welcome at Proton (subject of course to adherence to our terms and conditions). When it comes to defending your right to privacy, Proton will show no favoritism or bias, and will unconditionally defend it irrespective of the opinions you may hold.
3/
Benedikt •
This is because both Proton as a company, and Proton as a community, is highly diverse, with people that hold a wide range of opinions and perspectives. It's important that we not lose sight of nuance. Agreeing/disagreeing with somebody on one point, rarely means you agree/disagree with them on every other point.
I would like to believe that as a community there is more that unites us than divides us, and that privacy and freedom are universal values that we can all agree upon. This continues to be the mission of the non-profit Proton Foundation, and we will strive to carry it out as neutrally as possible.
Going forward, I will be posting via u/andy1011000. Thank you for your feedback and inputs so far, and we look forward to continuing the conversation."
4/4
Aral Balkan •
In the words of Desmond Tutu, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
When one side are literal fascists and you’re like “hey, that’s cool too”, you’re not neautral, you’re fine with fascism. You’re saying that fascism isn’t a deal breaker for you.
So, yeah, fuck that shit.
LukefromDC •