Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous 'Stop Cop City' Protester

sam0x17

Well I guess Proton cannot be trusted. You know what they say, centralization corrupts absolutely

petcat

> The records provide insight into the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on its end-to-end encryption and that it is only governed by Swiss privacy law, can and does provide to third parties. Didn't Proton already say that they were physically relocating their servers outside of Switzerland because the Swiss government couldn't be trusted? Although I guess the server location didn't matter in this case since all they wanted was the billing information and the credit card info to identify the person.

SunshineTheCat

Wild that it says this on their site: >Sign up with no phone number: Get a private email account without handing over more personal data than necessary, making it harder for advertisers, data brokers, and other services to track you online. I guess it doesn't mention law enforcement so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

h4kunamata

People will never understand, Proton is a privacy based email server, it is not the dark web where you can do as you please without consequences. Proton only has access to your IP and device ID, not your data. With IP and device ID, you can easily track an user like finding the ISP, etc. Do you wanna do naughty things?? Don't use such services do to so. And ironically,this 404 Media is the only place I found covering this information and they require you to login to read the whole thing. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm red flag big time!!!!

_alternator_

Man 404 Media is really crushing it lately. Thanks to the team!

CodeWriter23

This should surprise exactly nobody after it was disclosed back in [checks notes] 2021 that ProtonMail gave up user data to law enforcement and also changed their TOS.

loteck

Where are the stories about all the other mail providers who routinely cough up everything about your email account, including full content, metadata, and full payment details, on a daily basis? Proton is one of the few services who accepts anonymous payment, and cannot themselves provide encrypted content in cleartext. They cannot save you from yourself, though.

kittikitti

Thank you for sharing. I was trialing Proton Mail but I will move away from it because of this. This is some teenage level crime and legitimate protesting that it threw away its reputation for.

coppsilgold

Does Proton store the payment information tied to an account for the duration of a potential chargeback period or indefinitely? Whether they store such info for cryptocurrency payments as well (no chargeback risk) would be telling.

laweijfmvo

Proton won’t lock me out of my email because I accidentally sang a copyrighted song in a Youtube video. That’s why I use it, not because it’s the pirate bay for email.

thegrim33

Let me guess .. they weren't going after a "protestor" like the headline would try to lead you to believe. "Authorities were investigating [them] for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing" And there it is.

BoredPositron

Proton = Privacy Theater. Always has been.

jesse_dot_id

Unsurprising. If you don't want to receive the punishment for thought crimes, which is being threatened outright more loudly every day, it's increasingly difficult to actually have a dissenting voice online. Don't believe me? Set up a linux VM, Mullvad VPN with a killswitch, then run Tor browser. You MAY be able to get a TutaMail account, which requires a backup e-mail that disappears after a short period of time (allegedly), and then a Proton account with the TutaMail account as your required backup there, but all of the privacy-first "anonymous" services require some form of verification. Then, if the social media network isn't blocking you from signing up via a Tor exit nodes outright, you are immediately shadow banned. I remain very annoyed with the massive number of engineers that are making it possible for people who can't figure out how to check their e-mail to utilize advanced technology to spy on us, steal our tax money, pervert the technologies we build, and indiscriminately murder innocent people. We are a community of greedy ladder pullers and that's so disappointing.

burnt-resistor

Dumb Lavabit with extra privacy-washed marketing.

unethical_ban

As a proton user I know I am not completely anonymous. I pay them for their bundle of services because I get VPN, encrypted password storage and email that isn't scanned for ads and other purposes. Privacy and anonymity are a gradient. If I needed real opsec from government threats I wouldn't tie a credit card to a service.

bronco21016

Why is there a paywall AND anti-aging snake oil ads? Pick one. If that's the type of ad you sell it signals to me the site is absolutely not worth the subscription.

amatecha

Proton Mail complied with a legal demand they had no choice but to comply with, providing the basic shred of information the user willingly and knowingly provided. You want to be anonymous? Don't use your credit card! Don't connect from your home internet connection. (I don't know whether this person did because I can't read the story due to login-requirement). Either way, total non-story. Anyone whose potential adversary is a powerful government should already know this stuff. Either way, Proton didn't help the FBI. The article title is deceptive and implies a degree of insidiousness or dishonesty that has not been demonstrated by Proton in this case.

eviks

> Proton did not provide any information to the FBI ... Swiss justice department > This is an important distinction Not really, that's a minute procedural distinction without a difference. > can only happen after all Swiss legal checks are passed. Oh, don't worry, US also has some "checks", just as useful! > we understood that a law enforcement officer was shot and explosive devices were involved And now you're just compounding your fail by siding with the notorious liars against your own customers.

foundart

> 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.

KerrickStaley

https://archive.is/cGvKG