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ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

venturebeat.com

41–50 of 154 posts

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#41
post #29

I recently left ProtonMail and went back to Fastmail. My reason was that they will never be able to fully support IMAP and now CalDAV because of the encryption they use. I grew to accept that email is not for secure messaging and my paranoia of "I'm being watched" just went away. If you need secure messaging, use something other than email.

I came to a similar conclusion. You should write every email as if it were public, because it's entirely likely that it will be. They can be forwarded, made public through legal discovery, or exposed in a data breach (eg. Sony/North Korea). Forget security for a second, imagining every email as public record will make you more considerate and less biased writer. And from a business perspective, email should be viewed…

> Forget security for a second, imagining every email as public record will make you more considerate and less biased writer. And from a business perspective, email should be viewed as a public legal record, because in some cases it will be used that way.

> Just because I consider every email I write to be public

Cool. Can I have the creds to your Fastmail account then? I'm curious what you're up to these days. If you're not comfortable doing that (I promise I won't send any emails - not that it matters, I could still spoof your address anyway), I could settle with a dump of all the emails you've sent.

I get the whole 'write every email with the mindset that it could one day end up on the front page of NY Times' but that doesn't dismiss security requirements for locking down your email/calendar account.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#42

I'm a bit confused it took Protonmail more than a year yo develop ProtonCalendar. Is it really that difficult to develop?

Google (but not Apple) is still charmingly unable to tell when I've switched time zones between scheduling an event and attending it.

So, yeah, calendars are hard.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#44
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also saw it, and got a chuckle. I noticed how they were using the mobile web-app version instead of dedicated app. I think its a testament to ProtonMail's popularity, that they get some screentime in a film with such a high-profile cast. Perhaps a techie in the film crew suggested they use it.

The writers likely have a tech-consultant that checks these things. Can't have another NCIS moment.

I'm sure the film's budget could have afforded a consultant. However, if you watch the movie, you may notice that there was no need to show ProtonMail at all. It was a close-up, over-the-shoulder shot of the culprit using a phone to send an email. The whole shot lasted ~2 seconds, with narration. They could have simply chosen a front-facing shot of the culprit using a computer or phone to achieve the same affect.

In any case, there are still plently of TV series and movies that put less effort into a 5 minute 'hacker' scene than this movie did into a 2 second shot. They get my kudos.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it was their app just being so far behind Fastmail. If they had a better app I'd gladly pay. I just can't stomach gmail anymore and Fastmail was next best.

How do both of these compare to Thunderbird?

I haven't used Thunderbird enough to answer this

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#46
post #10

This is a welcome development. ProtonMail has worked well for me. Now if I could only find a way to make a Pixel phone accept that email address instead of one of my several one-off fake name gmail addresses that I use for such things.

If memory serves you can create a Google account with your existing email address. They won’t create a gmail account for you, but you can still use other Google services with it. I’m guessing it’s worth trying with your Android phone?

http://accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail for reference.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I did! I thought I was alone. I love when movies do their best to have some sense on the tech side, it could have been an annoying "sending ransom note.." loader instead.

I also saw it, and got a chuckle. I noticed how they were using the mobile web-app version instead of dedicated app. I think its a testament to ProtonMail's popularity, that they get some screentime in a film with such a high-profile cast. Perhaps a techie in the film crew suggested they use it.

It could also be a paid product placement.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#48
post #29

I recently left ProtonMail and went back to Fastmail. My reason was that they will never be able to fully support IMAP and now CalDAV because of the encryption they use. I grew to accept that email is not for secure messaging and my paranoia of "I'm being watched" just went away. If you need secure messaging, use something other than email.

I came to a similar conclusion. You should write every email as if it were public, because it's entirely likely that it will be. They can be forwarded, made public through legal discovery, or exposed in a data breach (eg. Sony/North Korea). Forget security for a second, imagining every email as public record will make you more considerate and less biased writer. And from a business perspective, email should be viewed…

[deleted]

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#49
post #33

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't appear to be CalDAV-compatible. If so, xkcd-927 strikes again :-(

If you want to build something which can't be compatible with popular standards, what is the better choice? Build it anyway, or let those standards stop you? It's the same reason I can't read my PGP-encrypted email on my phone.

Re: ProtonMail takes aim at Google with an encrypted calendar

#50
post #33

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't appear to be CalDAV-compatible. If so, xkcd-927 strikes again :-(

Not yet, anyways.

For IMAP email, there is Proton Bridge, to get around the fact that all data on their servers is encrypted with a key that only you have.

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