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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: tp4tissue on Sun, 17 May 2015, 12:39:58

Title: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 17 May 2015, 12:39:58
Thoughts?
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: Kevin_ProtonMail on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:15:23
Thoughts?

Hello! I'm Kevin from the ProtonMail team, I'd love to hear any thoughts anybody has about ProtonMail, if anyone has any questions, I'm also happy to answer. To those unfamiliar with us, we are a Switzerland-based zero access, end-to-end encrypted email service with a commitment to protecting the online privacy of everyone. We utilize an easy to use 2-password system to ensure that our users' encrypted email is only accessible to them, and no one else, not even us!

We recently made it to the 1 year mark since beta launch May 2014 - to celebrate, all free encrypted email accounts are upgraded to 1GB storage - you can read more about this on our blog: https://blog.protonmail.ch/were-upgrading-all-protonmail-accounts-to-1gb-of-storage/ (https://blog.protonmail.ch/were-upgrading-all-protonmail-accounts-to-1gb-of-storage/)

Best Regards,
Kevin
ProtonMail
https://protonmail.ch/
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:25:11
Hi Kevin..

Thanks for the Intro, and splash in our community.

What'rr'  keyboard do you use... ?(http://www.cute-factor.com/images/smilies/onion/014.gif)
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: RoastPotatoes on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:25:25
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:26:16
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.

Yea.. that's the issue for me as well..


And also,  because we have to enter our current Email, currently to sign up..

That would mean Google or Yahoo would know who we are..  So it's encrypted but not anon..



Kevin,  will there be an Anon layer added in the future?
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: RoastPotatoes on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:31:00
I think I should mention I got kevinbacon@protonmail.ch I'm not sure if I regret choosing that.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 18 May 2015, 13:37:17
I think I should mention I got kevinbacon@protonmail.ch I'm not sure if I regret choosing that.

Hahahaha..  I think they'll probably institute verified accounts eventually like the other services..

But you will forever be Kevinbacon  without alphanumerics.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: Kevin_ProtonMail on Mon, 18 May 2015, 16:00:55
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.

Yea.. that's the issue for me as well..


And also,  because we have to enter our current Email, currently to sign up..

That would mean Google or Yahoo would know who we are..  So it's encrypted but not anon..



Kevin,  will there be an Anon layer added in the future?

We understand the concern about the notification email. The notification email is only used for sending our invitation during out beta, since account registration during BETA is limited to maintain stability while we improve our architecture and feature set. It is only used for purposes of delivering the invitation email to you.

Once we leave beta, account creation will be instantaneous, with no the need for an invitation email or input of your current email. We don't require any personal identifying information for a ProtonMail account.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: jdcarpe on Mon, 18 May 2015, 16:02:56
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.

Yea.. that's the issue for me as well..


And also,  because we have to enter our current Email, currently to sign up..

That would mean Google or Yahoo would know who we are..  So it's encrypted but not anon..



Kevin,  will there be an Anon layer added in the future?

We understand the concern about the notification email. The notification email is only used for sending our invitation during out beta, since account registration during BETA is limited to maintain stability while we improve our architecture and feature set. It is only used for purposes of delivering the invitation email to you.

Once we leave beta, account creation will be instantaneous, with no the need for an invitation email or input of your current email. We don't require any personal identifying information for a ProtonMail account.

One thing I would suggest is an automated username generator for those who want an anonymous account, that gives out some sort of randomly generated username.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: Kevin_ProtonMail on Mon, 18 May 2015, 16:06:20
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.

Actually, your friends and colleagues don't need a ProtonMail account in order for you to use encryption! You can send important end-to-end encrypted messages using the "Encrypt to Outisde" feature in ProtonMail. The way it works is that you can set a password for the message. With this password, only you and your recipient can read the messages - nobody else, not even us.

Here are some support articles that explain these in depth -

How to send end-to-end encrypted messages to Non-ProtonMail emails addresses using a password: https://support.protonmail.ch/knowledge-base/encrypt-for-outside-users/ (https://support.protonmail.ch/knowledge-base/encrypt-for-outside-users/)
How Outside users don't even need a ProtonMail account to reply: https://support.protonmail.ch/knowledge-base/can-outside-users-respond-to-encrypted-messages/ (https://support.protonmail.ch/knowledge-base/can-outside-users-respond-to-encrypted-messages/)
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: Kevin_ProtonMail on Mon, 18 May 2015, 16:09:40
I don't really know anyone else who has it, so I cannot utilise any encryption.

Yea.. that's the issue for me as well..


And also,  because we have to enter our current Email, currently to sign up..

That would mean Google or Yahoo would know who we are..  So it's encrypted but not anon..



Kevin,  will there be an Anon layer added in the future?

We understand the concern about the notification email. The notification email is only used for sending our invitation during out beta, since account registration during BETA is limited to maintain stability while we improve our architecture and feature set. It is only used for purposes of delivering the invitation email to you.

Once we leave beta, account creation will be instantaneous, with no the need for an invitation email or input of your current email. We don't require any personal identifying information for a ProtonMail account.

One thing I would suggest is an automated username generator for those who want an anonymous account, that gives out some sort of randomly generated username.

That's a great suggestion, jdcarpe! I'll pass the idea to the team and we'll look into that.
Title: Re: Anyone using Proton Mail?
Post by: Axollott on Mon, 18 May 2015, 16:26:18
I applied for an account some days ago, i'm just waitng to get access. In my opinion this is an excellent idea for a very necessary service. If everything goes as expected, in some time they will surely receive my money too.