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Russia blocks ProtonMail

reuters.com

161–170 of 186 posts

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#161
post #3

I've been considering leaving Gmail for a privacy focused email service but it seems so difficult to switch. So many accounts and services have my Gmail registered, I don't think I could collect them all. Can anybody using ProtonMail (or any other privacy focused email) recommend it? I feel like choosing an email provider these days is as serious as choosing a bank.

As part of my degoogling plan, I opted for Posteo. Upsides are that they are recommended by the FSF [0], and they run on an open source software stack [1], and were in the business for a good number of years. Changing my old address wasn't as much of a pain as I thought it would be, I personally needed to update around 30 services.

After all this was done, I felt better, and still do after 2 years. Not sure of the other aftereffects regarding privacy and such. But I voted with my wallet, that's for sure.

[0] https://www.fsf.org/resources/webmail-systems [1] https://posteo.de/en/site/about_posteo

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#162
post #152
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Well, that in my eyes is a very solid advertising in favour of ProtonMail. In context of 5/9/14+ eyes, the nomenclature of solid advertising might differ from your interpretation, where perceptions matter ─ ranging from honeypots, compromised Tor exit nodes to dubious VPN providers, absence of warrant canaries to flawed encryption products etc. It is probably best to exercise caution and remain sceptical, rather tha…

There is ProtonVPN. Proton is based on Switzerland, so no N eyes interference there. At least not via a legal route.

You still have to worry about Swiss intelligence. That being said, ProtonMail is a fine product and I'm happy to be a customer.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#163
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are literally operating your own servers in a location that you physically control, you are still relying on someone else.

And even in this case you can't rely on your domain registry not to change your DNS without your consent. And there's not really a big chance you own a dedicated IP address.

Why would your domain registry change your DNS? You can also add multiple NS to a domain.

Additionally, if you're on a business plan then you can get a dedicated IP from your ISP or just host in a data center.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#164
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, most people that use ProtonMail "heard" it was safe but aren't using VPNs daily and would probably struggle to find out how to incorporate it into their daily routine correctly with split tunneling. The smart people host their own email, not rely on someone else.

For non-technical reasons, it is not always possible to self-host emails unfortunately.

Like what?

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hang on, I need to call my peat guy, who assured me that one meter was sufficient. Also, you have to line that tank with shotcrete. Hosting locations matter when you are buying network-delivered services. Even if it is trivial to bypass for the user, this one time, jurisdictional risk to the provider is something that you have to consider as a factor when comparing competitors and self-host options.

indeed! and when a lot of people are talking about 'self-hosting' they're mostly talking about a VPS they rent from some provider who could vanish just as easily as Proton can. I'd like to see the numbers on how many self-hosting evangelists (I don't mean that term pejoratively. I think self-hosting is great) are actually talking about metal they physically control.

Generally, that is why you'd build in redundancy and backups so that if your VPS provider, or cloud provider stopped working you could bring the service back up very quickly, however self-hosted email has proved reliable overall and there are even Helm charts for Kubernetes.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#166
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telegram is blocked in Russia, but WhatsApp still works. Why?

Telegram still works as well. It's technically banned, but works thanks to its blocking countermeasures.

> It's technically banned, but works thanks to its blocking countermeasures.

Mobile version only. You have to use proxy or VPN for desktop or web app.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was considering moving to ProtonMail (honestly, not being able to send mail to Russian addresses is now a blocker), but if I ever do, I won't give you a @protonmail address either, because I won't have one. If you want to actually own your email address, it should be on your own domain. Then you can change your mail provider without changing your primary email address.

I have yet to get told a personalized email address to this day. I want to make a shift to a personalized email domain, but I have yet to go through with it. I want a domain thats easily memorable and easy for almost anybody to type out.

This, for me, is the reason why I still give out my personal @gmail.com address because people understand that. It is troublesome enough to explain people how to spell my name correctly, the last thing I need is that I have to spell the part after the @ sign too.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#168
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is some information that the threats were sent by a guy who lost ton of money on recently crashed biggest Russian bitcoin exchange.

Do you have a source?

yep, it's in Russian though: https://news.mail.ru/society/40378912/

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#169
post #3

I've been considering leaving Gmail for a privacy focused email service but it seems so difficult to switch. So many accounts and services have my Gmail registered, I don't think I could collect them all. Can anybody using ProtonMail (or any other privacy focused email) recommend it? I feel like choosing an email provider these days is as serious as choosing a bank.

I've been using protonmail for the last 3 years, and I've been satisfied with it. For the switch, you don't have to do it at once. I've been migrating services one by one (but I'm quite the procrastinator), and still receive some mail on the gmail account. But I use PM as the primary email for new contacts and new services.

Re: Russia blocks ProtonMail

#170
post #147
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, why aren't breathalyzers mandated in every vehicle? Even though we as a society pretty uniformly agree (from the people I've spoken with) that drunk driving is bad in every case, why don't we resort to such extreme measures? Why don't we just strip prisoners naked and keep them in glass cages? We would certainly need fewer armed guards if that were the case. Thank goodness we are not there yet.

Funny thing is in France they did require having breathalyzers in your car by law. But it is not really in effect now. https://www.drive-france.com/faqs/france-breathalyzer-law/

I have to admit, I never quite understood the purpose of requiring you to keep a breathalyzer kit in the car without requiring you to actually use it.
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