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Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

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Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#11
post #7

You email is as private as your addressees's email provider. So if many people you are communicating with are using gmail - it won't buy you much to switch.

I know that it's not going to change much, I've mentioned it but it's still better than nothing. I respect other people choices and that's why I need to switch. In the same way, I've installed Textsecure, even if just one person I know is using it, maybe one day, some other people will contact me through it, it does not hurt me to keep it.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#12
It is always exciting to see more people leave the NSA bobby traps to reclaim their privacies.

You may want to try https://www.hosteurope.de/E-Mail-Hosting/#Vergleich

It's in Germany. I am not in full support of services in the US. I however understand that there is not guarantee that they/NSA/BB can't get an order/subpoena to access your server though.

Here are the product details: Mailboxes: 1 Storage per mailbox: 5 GB Webmailer Pro: Yes POP / IMAP: Yes Daily backup: Yes Mobile Sync: Yes Shareable calendars, address books and tasks: Yes One-time setup fee: € 9.99 € 4.99

You can get up to 5 mailboxes by paying $5-$10 more I think.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#13
My advice is if you manage to encrypt your email with good encryption, stick with a popular provider (i.e. gmail, hotmail, yahoo etc). A privacy-aware email provider called Lavabit was shut down a while ago. Thankfully I hadn't lost much but some people did.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#15
post #14

Run your own mailserver - postfix + roundcube. It'll take you some time to set it up, but it will be educational!

I'd use opensmtpd instead of postfix. Mostly because you'll learn how to configure the former in a matter of tens of minutes when reading the man page, and the config format is basically English. The latter. Not even close.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#16

I am using https://www.fastmail.com with great results. They do have some features in there interface to ease the transition like being able to both send and receive mail from your old address directly from there interface.

I too use fastmail (though I moved from my own setup, not from gmail).

Some nice things they have: * Proper IMAP and SIEVE support. * CalDAV, CardDAV. * The UI is keyboard-only usable. * The support team is really responsive (they actually added a shortcut for an option that was lacking one within a few days of my request!). * They give back a lot to the FLOSS community, which I really value (but their webmail is mostly proprietary).

Their usage of actually standards (instead of just their own) is a great thing! I still use mutt for gpg email, and khal for calendaring, which is pretty good.

They also host your XMPP server, if you're an XMPP user.

I've been meaning to post a thorough review, but haven't had the time to polish it. I'll post it in HN once I have it, since I'm sure many will be interested.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#17
post #13

My advice is if you manage to encrypt your email with good encryption, stick with a popular provider (i.e. gmail, hotmail, yahoo etc). A privacy-aware email provider called Lavabit was shut down a while ago. Thankfully I hadn't lost much but some people did.

Yeah, privacy is a lot harder than you think. For example, gmail probably has > 50% of my email, since the recipients use gmail. And other compromised providers.

If you really need privacy, try going the gpg way.

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#18
In case you're a German speaker, there are some native German Email providers that afaik are pretty good on privacy (our laws are very strict there, and there is what is known as). And as their servers should be in Germany, the NSA will have a slightly more difficult task of sniffing.

Examples are gmx.de and web.de. (Although I'd caution you with the latter - I use their free version and am not impressed with their customer service: nonexistent. Also, they send you their own advertising. I don't know if their paid tier is any better, I haven't tried it.)

Re: Ask HN: Where to switch from Gmail?

#20
post #14

Run your own mailserver - postfix + roundcube. It'll take you some time to set it up, but it will be educational!

I second this. Setup roundcube and postfix in about a day on a remote server, and now for $5 a month I have control over my email (make sure encryption is enabled when communicating with it, obviously).
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