In an unexpected mask off “secure” email and VPN provider Proton took the stance of siding with the fascist MAGA Reps. Proton’s services are no option for me and many others any longer. Let’s collect and discuss alternatives (E2E encrypted email and VPN) here 🔐👇

Always try to provide:

-Server location (jurisdiction)

-Governance

-Integrity/trustworthiness/transparency

-User experience/ease of use (grade 1 to 10, lets take Proton as a benchmark with an 8)

-Pricing and links

If you know alternative setups, feel free to share, too.

#ProtonExodus

Background: https://lemmy.ca/comment/13913116

Edit:typo

  • The 8232 Project@lemmy.ml
    1·
    8 months ago

    I will continue to use Proton and their services, not because I support or endorse any political decisions from the CEO/board members (and I don’t), but because they provide open source, secure, and private software that I love.

    This is no different than arguing about using GrapheneOS based on the behavior of the maintainers.

      • The 8232 Project@lemmy.ml
        0·
        8 months ago

        This video seemed to have been the start of an anti-GrapheneOS movement. I won’t get into details, because it’s been explained to death, but it’s here for your convenience.

        I use and love GrapheneOS as well.

        • dissentiate@programming.devEnglish
          0·
          8 months ago

          Thanks for the video, much appreciated. Never paid much attention to the project beyond their website… and I’m glad that’s as far as I’ve gone lol

          • PullPantsUnsworn@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            8 months ago

            Don’t bother videos against GrapheneOS. The lead of GrapheneOS has autism and he lacks social skills. This creates endless loop of hate talk between some YouTubers and GrapheneOS.

            As a technical project, GOS is far superior and it is the most secure OS on the planet right now. The lead of the GOS has developed hardened malloc and various other security solutions that is now baked into GrapheneOS. So I would ask people to enjoy the project rather than stimulating more fuss against the project.

  • marcie (she/her)@lemmy.ml
    1·
    8 months ago

    Truly unhinged that they decided to come out on this. Fellas, you are fucking Swiss why throw yourself under the bus for the US election

  • Roopappy@lemmy.world
    1·
    8 months ago

    I’ve been doing research into this because I want to degoogle. Looking for hosted and secure Mail, Calendar, Drive… maybe docs if possible. I don’t mind paying as long as I’m a customer and not a product to be sold.

    My short list was: Mailbox.org, Zoho, and Notion.

    Then there are the services I don’t understand as much because I don’t really want to self host or step into server maintenance… NextCloud, OwnCloud, LibreCloud, OnlyOffice. Maybe someone could straighten me out with those if I’m off base.

  • secretlyaddictedtolinux@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    If a car company in Germany complemented Hitler on his paintings, would it be still fine to buy their cars? And what if they were a really great car company and only mentioned how cool Hitler’s paintings were and nothing else?

    I sort of feel like if I am cool with Proton’s statement, then I also am cool with trans people and Latino people and Gazan people being treated poorly, and I’m not actually cool with that.

    It’s unfortunate, because despite Proton not accepting XMR and logging IPs when they promised they wouldn’t and doing other questionable practices, they have a lot of great services. But now, it’s like if I’m using their services, I’m sort of spitting on the grave of every trans person who ended their life out of shame, spitting on the grave of every dead Gazan who simply didn’t want to die, and being disrespectful to all the cool Latinos out there who have been degraded simply out of racism.

    :-(

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
    12·
    8 months ago

    Misinformation. OP is advocating that you shoot yourself in the foot.

    The CEO said something silly on Twitter which revealed either that (a) he shares an exceedingly banal opinion with literally half of America or (b) he’s not above a bit of preemptive sycophancy to advance his (positive) anti-trust agenda.

    There’s nothing particularly scandalous in the offending tweet:

    • Implying that the Democrats are now “the party of big business” is arguably true (and very boring)
    • Implying that the Republicans now “stand for the little guys” is dumb but also arguably true, unfortunately - the working classes swung to Trump in the recent election while the Democrats are fast becoming a party of high-earning elites (which is why they lost)
    • Saying that the antitrust actions began under Trump I is, well, true

    Proton is not owned Zuck-like by its CEO. It’s controlled by a foundation with other stakeholders on the board, including the inventor of the Web himself. In its niche it is still by far the best option. Ditching it for a nebulous non-existent alternative because the CEO expressed a dumb and extremely commonplace opinion is just silly and self-defeating.

    PS: to be clear, OP is peddling misinformation because it’s not true that “Proton took the stance” of anything. It’s the personal opinion of the CEO that’s at issue. It’s a major distinction. I find it disappointing that people interested in privacy would have such little respect for a private individual’s right to have their own thoughts.

    PPS: to be extra clear, my comments are about the post above, not stuff that people are reading elsewhere. But the substance stands. See discussion for detail.

    • mean_bean279@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      I love how you’re claiming misinformation while posting misinformation. It’s not the CEO, it’s a board member. That said, the company also officially posted these ideas on their Bluesky account.

      This isn’t a “CEO” expressing a belief, it’s the board, and now the official company line.

      I’m not disagreeing with their post particularly on corporate dems, but this is a company and not a persons sole belief.

      Also, if dems are the party of big business then why are all these big businesses donating to Trump? Does that just mean republicans are the party of even bigger business?

        • mean_bean279@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          8 months ago

          I was thinking the same thing. In all the threads about it. It just seemed oddly suspicious and not typical of what the digital privacy community has typically believed… I mean, I’m also not going to homogenize a community like that though and Proton has been a mainstay.

      • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
        0·
        8 months ago

        This is all over the place.

        My comment concerns the post above. OP cites a tweet and states a falsehood about it. No, “Proton” did not “take the stance” of anything in that tweet. Yes, Andy Yen is the CEO. Yes, that tweet is in his name and not in the name of Proton. I was not responding to other things that you’ve seen elsewhere.

        Now, as for those other things elsewhere, I stick by the substance of my point. Sure, it’s more of a problem that dumb things are being said in the name of Proton rather than just it’s CEO. But look at the detail of those things. There is nothing scandalous. People are getting their underwear in a twist about extremely common opinions being expressed on Twitter. Personally I don’t care if a CEO voted a different way to me, or even if a whole board did. This should not have any bearing on Proton’s product or what makes it better than others. This is just another typically American culture-war drama. It’s boring.

        • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          8 months ago

          Personally I don’t care if a CEO voted a different way to me, or even if a whole board did. This should not have any bearing on Proton’s product or what makes it better than others.

          I won’t have a friend who supports Trump, because to do so is to support a regressive, bigoted, jackbooted view of the world and how things should be done. I don’t speak to my Trump supporting family members except when family situations force us to.

          WHY ON EARTH would I trust my privacy to a company whose entire board supports that view, much less their CEO?

        • mean_bean279@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          8 months ago

          This is all over the place.

          If you click the link in this post it takes you to a mastodon comment from the official Proton account stating exactly the same beliefs as this board member. If that isn’t in the name of Proton what is?

          People ARE looking at the details of this. If this company starts cozying up to an alt-right “dictator for a day” government then when/where does this stop? There’s nuance beyond just Proton and Andy said something scandalous here. It’s layers of political issues that spell a privacy focused company having an inability to actually keep the government out of my shit.

          Culture war would be if they took a stance on DEI. This is political and has actual consequences.

          Why are you trying to defend a fucking corporation? When has a company ever not become evil as they look to grow? It’s just the nature of the beast. The people here, and the OP specifically, have called out Proton is over for them. They’re not saying you should do the same. Just that they’re going to take a step back and others expressing they’ll join.

    • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      1. It isn’t misinformation.

      2. Someone like this board member being a traitor to his species isn’t covered by “opinion”. No normalizing nazis. It’s such a low bar. He couldn’t clear it.

      3. He blasted his treachery over the public airwaves. His privacy isn’t being violated.

      This whole comment feels like an exercise in using all the best words to miss the point. We know, as does this probably-lying board member, that Republicans are only going to go more authoritarian, and the only reason they would pretend to care about big tech abuses is to grab the steering wheel from them to commit far worse abuses. No company that gets into bed with traitors is going to become the new center of my digital life.

      Tuta for email, syncthing for photos bc I’m not self-hosting, mullvad for VPN.

      • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
        01·
        8 months ago

        Sorry but I won’t participate in this juvenile trivializing of the word “Nazi”. Yes, I know that’s become almost a meaningless slur at this point, but personally I just will not take seriously anybody who throws it around like this. Perhaps because I’m European. Perhaps because I studied history. It’s not serious.

    • CatsGoMOW@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I largely agree with what you’re saying, except the official Proton Mastadon account doubled down on that personal opinion. That seems pretty clear that it’s endorsed not just by that one individual on the board.