Live data from Hacker News

The FastMail Security Mindset

blog.fastmail.com

21–30 of 301 posts

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#21
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm considering switching (in fact I just registered for the FastMail trial). I'm especially interested in the ability to use catchall addresses with a custom domain, which would allow me to give out an address like , and thus determine who shared my email address if I start receiving spam at that address. This is partly possible with Gmail, as you can use addresses like , but not all sites support emails with a + in…

I use aliases (FastMail's term for custom addresses that go to the same inbox) for that reason. They work very well, and I've never had any problems setting up a new one on the fly.

I should have known they offer this sort of thing. I tried spinning up an alias in the past but was unable to find where to do so. Maybe the UI has improved since I tried ~year ago.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#22

Any lawyers care to comment on this claim of theirs? It has been pointed out to us that since we have our servers in the US, we are under US jurisdiction. We do not believe this to be the case. https://blog.fastmail.com/2013/10/07/fastmails-servers-are-i... As a non-lawyer I would expect the US to be able to serve their host with a warrant to get whatever data the judge said they could have.

I don't know if it will answer their specific claim, but you can read Protonmail's explanation for being based in Switzerland here if you're curious: https://protonmail.com/blog/switzerland/

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#23
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use aliases (FastMail's term for custom addresses that go to the same inbox) for that reason. They work very well, and I've never had any problems setting up a new one on the fly.

I should have known they offer this sort of thing. I tried spinning up an alias in the past but was unable to find where to do so. Maybe the UI has improved since I tried ~year ago.

They did shuffle things around about a year ago. Aliases are under Settings, in the Admin section.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#24

Any lawyers care to comment on this claim of theirs? It has been pointed out to us that since we have our servers in the US, we are under US jurisdiction. We do not believe this to be the case. https://blog.fastmail.com/2013/10/07/fastmails-servers-are-i... As a non-lawyer I would expect the US to be able to serve their host with a warrant to get whatever data the judge said they could have.

You are correct but from lawyer perspective (IANAL btw) it is important they use the word "believe". As I was explained by a friend who is attorney, if you never had experience with certain law, like in this case perhaps never been subpoena for records by US, then you have a right to say you "believe" something is not the case. This is still not deceiving statement. But the moment you have been proven wrong by US Gov for example, your claim would have to be removed.

on FastMail alone I did not like how slow it is. I was testing them and Protonmail at the same time and was very impress how simple it is to setup my multiple domains/users on Proton and how fast encryption/decryption works. And Protonmail "[...] is outside of US and EU jurisdiction, only a court order from the Cantonal Court of Geneva or the Swiss Federal Supreme Court can compel us to release the extremely limited user information we have.[...] [1]

https://protonmail.com/security-details

Full disclosure: I don't work for Proton; I'm just their happy mailer :)

EDIT: Slow I mean their GUI comparing to Proton. It might be more the number of extensions I have to block or limit different shenanigans such as AdBlock etc.. but needless to say, Proton does not have that problem.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#25
post #10

Wow what a coincidence — I switched from Gmail to Fastmail exactly 1 year ago today. I couldn't be happier. I mostly use native clients, but the Web client is a joy to use, and everything I've observed about Fastmail gives me confidence in their service. I never used the Gmail-exclusive features like labels, so switching was pretty easy. I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Keep up the good work, guys.

I'm considering switching (in fact I just registered for the FastMail trial). I'm especially interested in the ability to use catchall addresses with a custom domain, which would allow me to give out an address like , and thus determine who shared my email address if I start receiving spam at that address. This is partly possible with Gmail, as you can use addresses like , but not all sites support emails with a + in…

I do precisely this with Fastmail and it works a treat. Setting up Fastmail with a custom domain was a joy, I can easily filter based on the To address, and you can setup a wildcard identity so you can trivially send email from whatever name you like at your domain.

To me the only downside is the mobile app isn't quite as polished as Gmail. It doesn't work offline, and I notice occasional bugs or awkwardnesses. But it's still very usable, and I much prefer the Fastmail web interface to Gmail.

Edit: Also, the Fastmail importer didn't work very well on my large number of Gmail messages. It failed a few times and restarting it resulted in duplicate messags.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#26

Any lawyers care to comment on this claim of theirs? It has been pointed out to us that since we have our servers in the US, we are under US jurisdiction. We do not believe this to be the case. https://blog.fastmail.com/2013/10/07/fastmails-servers-are-i... As a non-lawyer I would expect the US to be able to serve their host with a warrant to get whatever data the judge said they could have.

They are in Australia I believe, still part of the "five eyes" https://www.privacytools.io/#ukusa

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#27
post #10

Wow what a coincidence — I switched from Gmail to Fastmail exactly 1 year ago today. I couldn't be happier. I mostly use native clients, but the Web client is a joy to use, and everything I've observed about Fastmail gives me confidence in their service. I never used the Gmail-exclusive features like labels, so switching was pretty easy. I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Keep up the good work, guys.

I'm considering switching (in fact I just registered for the FastMail trial). I'm especially interested in the ability to use catchall addresses with a custom domain, which would allow me to give out an address like , and thus determine who shared my email address if I start receiving spam at that address. This is partly possible with Gmail, as you can use addresses like , but not all sites support emails with a + in…

Im curious how FastMail and ProtonMail are comparison wise?

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#28
post #13

Wow what a coincidence — I switched from Gmail to Fastmail exactly 1 year ago today. I couldn't be happier. I mostly use native clients, but the Web client is a joy to use, and everything I've observed about Fastmail gives me confidence in their service. I never used the Gmail-exclusive features like labels, so switching was pretty easy. I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Keep up the good work, guys.

How's the spam filter compared to Gmail?

I've been using Fastmail for over two years now, and I have had zero spam enter my inbox.

On occasion, I've had one or two legitimate emails end up in the Junk folder, but it's extremely rare.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#29
post #10

Wow what a coincidence — I switched from Gmail to Fastmail exactly 1 year ago today. I couldn't be happier. I mostly use native clients, but the Web client is a joy to use, and everything I've observed about Fastmail gives me confidence in their service. I never used the Gmail-exclusive features like labels, so switching was pretty easy. I highly recommend it to anyone considering it. Keep up the good work, guys.

I'm considering switching (in fact I just registered for the FastMail trial). I'm especially interested in the ability to use catchall addresses with a custom domain, which would allow me to give out an address like , and thus determine who shared my email address if I start receiving spam at that address. This is partly possible with Gmail, as you can use addresses like , but not all sites support emails with a + in…

G Suite (formerly Google Apps) supports wild cards so you can use Gmail with arbitraryaddresses@yourdomain.tld.

Re: The FastMail Security Mindset

#30
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm considering switching (in fact I just registered for the FastMail trial). I'm especially interested in the ability to use catchall addresses with a custom domain, which would allow me to give out an address like , and thus determine who shared my email address if I start receiving spam at that address. This is partly possible with Gmail, as you can use addresses like , but not all sites support emails with a + in…

I'm not suggesting (at all) that you use them over FastMail, but GSuite also supports catch-all email addresses.

Indeed - but replying from an arbitrary address is one big downside of G Suite’s implementation. In FastMail you can add [0]@example.com as an identity. Selecting this when composing an email allows you to edit the localpart entirely. Similarly, when replying to an email sent to your catch-all and you have an @ identity for the hostname FastMail will automatically set your from address for you.

In Gmail (with G Suite) one has to manually add every identity they may wish to reply from - there’s no @ option. Additionally, it’s impossible to hide your real email address/Google Account address. It’ll always be disclosed in the email headers unlike FastMail.

I’d love if G Suite would make such a workflow easier..

[0] escape characters don’t seem to work here, refers to what’d you think it does

Post reply on HN