Phew! For a moment I thought you were talking about the steam compatibility thingy.
this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
1 points (100.0% liked)
Privacy
35326 readers
127 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
I thought they were talking about the elementary particleβI was afraid weβd have to find some other way of manifesting our physical existence.
Mullvad is supposed to be a safe and secure VPN.
Unfortunately not a mail or storage provider.
If this wasn't enough of a wakeupcall to not put all the eggs in one basket then what is? Companies are literally doing this to lock you into their service so it's harder to switch since you then have to find X new services instead of just one.
Better go with one that'd specialized for each service you need...
I'll still continue using proton, as I haven't seen them staying from their goal just yet, but I'd love to see some alternatives non the less.
systemli.org
- Germany (I think)
- Politically leftist
- Very nice people
- User experience 8, works fine and people put a lot of effort in
- It's free, but you need an invite code
If a car company in Germany complemented Hitler on his paintings, would it be still fine to buy their cars? And what if they were a really great car company and only mentioned how cool Hitler's paintings were and nothing else?
I sort of feel like if I am cool with Proton's statement, then I also am cool with trans people and Latino people and Gazan people being treated poorly, and I'm not actually cool with that.
It's unfortunate, because despite Proton not accepting XMR and logging IPs when they promised they wouldn't and doing other questionable practices, they have a lot of great services. But now, it's like if I'm using their services, I'm sort of spitting on the grave of every trans person who ended their life out of shame, spitting on the grave of every dead Gazan who simply didn't want to die, and being disrespectful to all the cool Latinos out there who have been degraded simply out of racism.
:-(
Unlike a car which is bought once and is mostly outside of vendor control once you have it, Proton mail is a service that requires continuous trust in the company since they offer a service. This means I no longer trust Proton as much, which makes me much less inclined to use their services.
Wow!
Of all companies, this is one I didn't expect.
Damn.
the good news is this is a lesson to never trust any entity whose role in the world is to accumulate capital
What's insane is that didn't Proton just recently announce they were converting to a non-profit?
Yes, they did: https://proton.me/blog/proton-non-profit-foundation
Sigh.
Goddammit. I'm so fucking tired.
This is how they win.
Am I the only that don't see this the same way as the rest? I am in way way endorsing or supporting MAGA, but they did take action against big tech (though for reasons of retribution) and I see Proton only acknowledging a good person being designated to lead the next antitrust efforts, apparently with a good track record.
Proton also acknowledges Lina Kahn who has done a great job, nominated under Joe Biden.
Ultimately, I feel like from a perspective of Proton, any win against Big Tech, is a good win, and I can't disagree.
There is a longer discussion to be had around how the dems were supported by oligarchs and I think that's what Proton is referring to, they decided to turn a blind eye under the Obama administration for instance. Bernie Sanders goes to lengths about this in this interview, illuminating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzkgWDCucNY
So all in all, maga sucks, new pick probably good, and in my view, proton not actually endorsing maga/trump but just acknowledging a good pick.
Did I miss something?
The main part of the message that pissed me off was the idea that GOP sides with the βlittle guyβ. First, itβs demonstrably false. Second, he is a tech CEO. He wouldnβt recognise a little guy before his security crew has time to forcibly remove him.
I just got settled for fuck's sake
I just requested a refund yesterday. I upped 20 days ago.
"Proton? Why the fuck would he be mad at a WINE fork...?"
"... OH THE MAIL-"
Server locations: Riseup is in the US (Washington state), so keep that in mind. Disroot is in the Netherlands (part of the EU).
Governance: Riseup: Look at their βabout usβ page. Disroot: Look at their βaboutβ page. The terms of service are more detailed. tl;dr: As far as I can tell, these are run by leftists.
Integrity/Transparency: I have no idea how to grade this.
Ease of Use: Subjective. Riseup VPN is just: install the client, turn it on or off. Disroot is much better with a mail client of some kind, so if you already use one, itβs probably a 10, otherwise, the webmail server isnβt that great. Disroot also requries manual encryption (Iβm biased here because I use Kmail which makes PGP really easy to use).
Pricing and Links: Free https://riseup.net/en/vpn https://disroot.org/en/services/email
tl;dr: Use collective-run services, not corporate-run services
Regarding e-mail: "riseup.net" requires that a long-time user vouch for a new user and invite them. If the new user quickly turns into a complaint magnet (there's a coming-of-age period after which their actions are considered their own), both the user and the inviter will be held responsible (kicked off the service). I think (hope) they aren't so strict with VPN, but they have limited people and could not administer a mess made by a big bunch of people.
Needless to say, none of my (anarchist) comrades have ever been kicked off RiseUp, but they don't send spam or threats, they just send their cat pictures encrypted with GPG, causing the authorities endless work. :)
Just like every reasonable service, RiseUp has a few technical mechanisms to ensure they aren't compromised (disk and inbox encryption, etc) but obviously those can't help against a dedicated and well-resourced adversary.
So, whatever e-mail server you use - use PGP / GPG. :) Then the adversary must compromise your device. If you are hardcore, encrypt and sign on an offline device. Then the adversary must breach the air gap.
(I used to sign releases for some anonymity-related project years ago. Those were the times when I seriously took measures because others depended on me. Currently, not so much.)
P.S. As for the lack of resources at RiseUp: this can be alleviated by donating to them. Which reminds me, I should set up a small regular donation to their representative organization in the EU.
If they think Dollar Store Hitler is going to stand up for small businesses then they're about to have a rude awakening.
Tech bros aren't exactly known for a nuanced understanding of whatever isn't bleeps and blips: that's what you get when the educational system is nothing more than a pipeline for employment
Truly unhinged that they decided to come out on this. Fellas, you are fucking Swiss why throw yourself under the bus for the US election
Because terrible people literally can't help themselves. Wait for people to show you who they truly are, they will...
I will continue to use Proton and their services, not because I support or endorse any political decisions from the CEO/board members (and I don't), but because they provide open source, secure, and private software that I love.
This is no different than arguing about using GrapheneOS based on the behavior of the maintainers.
Oh no... I use Graphene... what's the deal with the maintainers?
Why treat Proton like it's the work of a single person rather than a large team?
CEO's get to decide what to do with the money the company earns. The workers dont.
And is there a risk he may invest money further into fascism?
of course
Apple has recently declared that they're keeping their DEI programs in contrast to other tech companies, so I suppose Lemmy crowd would approve that? Their CEO being openly gay since 2014 probably works as some sort of a guarantee, at least as long as he keeps being the CEO.
So I'll suggest: Apple hardware + icloud. User experience (with apple hardware) 10/10. Pricing: Hardware price + monthly cost. Integrity: who knows, but they seem to deriving their income from their devices more than many other things.
Monthly cost depends on geographical location and storage size, but in EU area per month:
- 5GB is free
- 50GB = 1 euro
- 200GB = 3 euros
- 2TB = 10 euros
That storage and cost can be shared with up to 5 family members.
I used this for a long time and it worked really really well. But it really does practically depend on having Apple devices, preferably on every level. I recently moved to Proton because I wanted to move to Linux, but I do miss the UX and reliability quite a lot. Icloud's web service isn't bad though but wasn't good enough for me.
If anything I'd say that the lesson to be learned from this should be the exact opposite: No company is safe forever, so you should choose based on how easy it is to switch.
Chaining yourself to a single company all the way from the services you use down to the OS and even the hardware is only making it worse. Particularly when Apple is already aggressively anti-consumer on a lot of fronts.
Misinformation. OP is advocating that you shoot yourself in the foot.
The CEO said something silly on Twitter which revealed either that (a) he shares an exceedingly banal opinion with literally half of America or (b) he's not above a bit of preemptive sycophancy to advance his (positive) anti-trust agenda.
There's nothing particularly scandalous in the offending tweet:
- Implying that the Democrats are now "the party of big business" is arguably true (and very boring)
- Implying that the Republicans now "stand for the little guys" is dumb but also arguably true, unfortunately - the working classes swung to Trump in the recent election while the Democrats are fast becoming a party of high-earning elites (which is why they lost)
- Saying that the antitrust actions began under Trump I is, well, true
Proton is not owned Zuck-like by its CEO. It's controlled by a foundation with other stakeholders on the board, including the inventor of the Web himself. In its niche it is still by far the best option. Ditching it for a nebulous non-existent alternative because the CEO expressed a dumb and extremely commonplace opinion is just silly and self-defeating.
PS: to be clear, OP is peddling misinformation because it's not true that "Proton took the stance" of anything. It's the personal opinion of the CEO that's at issue. It's a major distinction. I find it disappointing that people interested in privacy would have such little respect for a private individual's right to have their own thoughts.
PPS: to be extra clear, my comments are about the post above, not stuff that people are reading elsewhere. But the substance stands. See discussion for detail.
I largely agree with what youβre saying, except the official Proton Mastadon account doubled down on that personal opinion. That seems pretty clear that itβs endorsed not just by that one individual on the board.
Link to Mastodon thread: https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503
Archives in case they delete it:
https://web.archive.org/web/20250115165213/https://mastodon.social/@protonprivacy/113833073219145503
Text copy of their post:
Corporate capture of Dems is real. In 2022, we campaigned extensively in the US for anti-trust legislation.
Two bills were ready, with bipartisan support. Chuck Schumer (who coincidently has two daughters working as big tech lobbyists) refused to bring the bills for a vote.
At a 2024 event covering antitrust remedies, out of all the invited senators, just a single one showed up - JD Vance.
By working on the front lines of many policy issues, we have seen the shift between Dems and Republicans over the past decade first hand.
Dems had a choice between the progressive wing (Bernie Sanders, etc), versus corporate Dems, but in the end money won and constituents lost.
Until corporate Dems are thrown out, the reality is that Republicans remain more likely to tackle Big Tech abuses.
Looks like backing up the post was a good call.
This may sound drastic but really I think the only move for Proton is fire Andy. Theyβre a non-profit, the board need to step in. He has single-handedly cost the company both current and potential customers by just not being smart enough to keep his mouth shut. This makes him an idiot, and an idiot as CEO is not a good look (see: anything musk)
I'm not going to change from Proton because of this, but what you're suggesting is probably not a bad idea. CEOs are and should be easy to replace and mistakes like this are pretty standard reason why CEOs get booted.
edit removed some rather incriminating, unverified claims about Andy Yen
So... any petition or open letter to sign?
I think you need to be in Proton's Board of Directors to have any effect on this. Perhaps if some of those guys are your friend?
Wow. Sweet tantrum. Hope it pays dividends. I've seen enough, Lemmy. G'bye.
For what it's worth, it would be worthwhile if more moderate people (which I suppose you are) were in lemmy. You can just block people if you don't want to see content from them.