Journalists, activists and even lawyers on the side of activists should always use something like Tails. No matter what companies like Proton promise or what the law in the country they operate in says.
this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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Those who used it imagined Swiss law to be less intrusive? I suppose it sounds like a good idea to anyone, which is mostly everyone, who doesn't know Swiss law.
Yeah, they rolled over to the authority, as expected. But, they sold themselves as "private", not "private up to the extent of Swiss law, and our laws here are very intrusive, so really the private part isn't going to get anyone very far if they use this service for anything slightly questionable, let alone outright illegal. You might as well be using GMail for how 'private' this thing is."
they sold themselves as "private", not "private up to the extent of Swiss law
No, they sold themselves as “private up to the extent of Swiss law”.
Please show any Wayback Machine link for that quote on Proton's site. I can find 'your privacy comes first'. I didn't find 'up to the extent of Swiss law' yet.
Here you go: https://proton.me/mail
Just scroll down. Each selling point is marked with title case text, followed by their reasoning.
Under the first one that mentions privacy ( Highest standards of privacy) it says:
Proton is incorporated and headquartered in Switzerland, meaning your data is protected by some of the world's strictest privacy laws.
The entirety of their reasoning behind their claim of “Highest standards of privacy”, right on their main landing page is based on the limitations of Swiss Law and literally nothing else. It even contains a link to a blog post where they go into detail on how Swiss Law affects what they can and can’t do lol.
Can you find me a way back machine link to their website where they told you that they aren’t subject to or otherwise do not comply with Swiss law?
Here you go: https://proton.me/mail
Just scroll down. Each selling point is marked with title case text, followed by their reasoning.
I don't find your earlier quote on that page anywhere.
Can you find me a way back machine link to their website where they told you that they aren’t subject to or otherwise do not comply with Swiss law?
Why would I do that? My claim is not that they ever said that explicitly, but that their marketing claimed 'your privacy came first' without any similar-size mention how it would be limited by Swiss law. It was not in their interest to explain that the Swiss courts can order them to track and shop French climate activists.
I don't find your earlier quote on that page anywhere.
Here’s a screenshot
My claim is not that they ever said that explicitly, but that their marketing claimed 'your privacy came first' without any similar-size mention how it would be limited by Swiss law.
Their marketing around privacy as it exists right now is extremely up front and detailed about the fact that it’s based on Swiss law. If you’re going to claim that at some point in time it didn’t, you’re going to have to show some kind of proof of that. I don’t recall any time in the last few years that they weren’t touting Swiss law as the very basis for their privacy claims.
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