had to add some backdoors for an investigation warrant, so they could monitor a person involved in a blackmail case
do you know where i can read up on this?
edit: i read about it. it seems it is not an encryption backdoor but rather that they are intercepting new emails for one user before they get to the mailbox (because the emails in the mailbox are encrypted). here is a hackernews thread on it
in my research about protonmail i discovered that GitLab is in In-Q-Tel's portfolio (In-Q-Tel is the venture capital arm of the CIA) so if that is concerning to you for any reason, i would stay away from GitLab. dess did mention codeberg as an option
i love smartphones but i have considered getting a "dumb" phone for the longest time.
however, i once heard someone say that a smartphone isn't harmful to privacy because it's smart but because it's a phone. i would love to hear arguments either way on that statement
i won't lie i hated this when it started but the dude did such a good job that after he started singing i was totally on board. the instrumentation, the singing, the accent (lmao) all spot-on
Certainly some of their funding comes from paid memberships. Beyond that, here is what my (not remotely extensive) research found:
In 2014 ProtonMail is listed as a Boston finalist for MassChallenge, (the same MassChallenge Boston who runs a US Air Force Lab), through whose programs start-ups
participate in a four-month, industry-agnostic accelerator where they receive:
- Hands-on support from top mentors and experts
- Free co-working space
- Access to MassChallenge’s unrivalled network of corporate partners
- Tailored workshops and office hours
- The opportunity to win a portion of more than $2M in cash prize
I am unsure if the MassChallenge application resulted in a grant, though there are finance sites that suggest it did.
Also in 2014, they raised $550,377 from backers on IndieGoGo In their campaign they said this:
We firmly believe that ProtonMail can only succeed in its mission if it remains independent. By raising money through crowd funding, we can ensure that our first and only priority is protecting the privacy of our users.
There are certain powerful governments and corporations out there who are in the business of controlling and exploiting personal data that will try to hinder us. If we want to live in a future where privacy on the internet is respected, we must stand together now and fight for those rights. With your support, we can make this brighter future a reality.
And yet...
They took 2 Million USD from venture capitalists at Charles River Ventures (CRV) and from FONGIT, described by ProtonMail as "a foundation supporting innovation on behalf of the State of Geneva and the Swiss Federal government". The head of ProtonMail's Advisory Board also serves as Director of FONGIT.
There have been people who claim to connect CRV to In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA, but my (very brief) research only came up with a loose connection through an employee. I did, however, find out an unrelated piece of information I would not have otherwise: In-Q-Tel lists GitLab in their portfolio. There is another (stronger) connection to the US government through CRV; a partner was appointed by Obama in 2012 to represent the US at the UN General Assembly.
It is also of note that Protonmail is advised by the MIT Venture Mentoring Service which is exclusively for the MIT community. I mention this because Protonmail has scrubbed much of the MIT influence, presumably because they think it will harm their business. This is the "about" now:
ProtonMail was founded in 2013 by scientists who met at CERN and were drawn together by a shared vision of a more secure and private Internet. Since then, ProtonMail has evolved into a global effort to protect civil liberties and build a more secure Internet, with team members also hailing from Caltech, Harvard, ETH Zurich and many other research institutions.
And this was that same page in 2014:
ProtonMail was founded in summer 2013 at CERN by scientists who were drawn together by a shared vision of a more secure and private Internet
ProtonMail is developed both at CERN and MIT and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. We were semifinalists in 2014 MIT 100K startup launch competition and are advised by the MIT Venture Mentoring Service
the protests are a color revolution. it is very clear when you look at who the protesters support & where their funding comes from. hong kong is has already been freed - it is no longer a colony of britain.
i'm sorry -- i mixed up two facts. it is protonmail who monetarily (and publicly) supports CIA-backed orgs, not the other way around (afaik). protonmail does have a big US backer but i forget who it is so i will do some digging (and fix my original post) sorry again!!
cool, thank you for the recommends! and i love your essays, btw. i think you do a really good job of summarizing socialist ideas in a way that is easily accessible.
same lmao like at least spend your energy defending something good
dess you recommend protonvpn but like... protonmail ~~takes money from~~ gives money to CIA-backed orgs & talks about "freeing" hong kong...
also what about git hosting? i see this is on github pages (which is mad convenient, no doubt) but is there a hosting provider you recommend?
*edited to fix misinformation
people are reeeeeeeeeeeeeal sensitive when it comes to milk. i saw a dude freaking out saying marx would say we should keep torturing cows on a mass scale because capitalism has made the process efficient. like... dude... for milk? really?
i would say it is a step forward but how much depends on your use case. if you are encrypting all your emails, protonmail allows you to do so with the body of the email (but NOT the headers). there are other providers who make this as easy. tutanota even encrypts your entire email, subjects and senders included but they recently had to comply with a court order to store new incoming emails for a certain user unencrypted.
when it comes down to it, any secure communication should not be done over email. you can always encrypt the body of the message yourself but the sender/receiver information and subject line will not be encrypted.
an alternative vpn would possibly be mullvad. the people over at privacytools also recommend ivpn so that's another one you could look into