Looking to leave GMAIL and am currently testing Proton for a $1 a month. So far it’s pretty good and the issue I have is not with Proton, but with who I’m sending messages to. If I send an email to a gmail account my information is still sitting on a Google server. So is Proton worth it? Is something like Fastmail just as good over all due to how email works? With Fastmail I can get email for my whole family for $14 a month. I won’t have the VPN, ProtonPASS and other Proton apps, but are they worth the $12 a month for one person?
If you are concerned about your information getting on a Google server when you send an Email to a Gmail account, is the issue still the same no matter what provider you use? Or am I misunderatanding? You are still to a Gmail address no?
No you’re understanding me. It’s impossible to avoid Google as over almost everyone uses them. My thought really is if it’s worth even trying. I can use a better service, but Google will still get my emails as most of my circle uses Google.
Do you know what personal info gets landed on their server when you send an Email to a Gmail account? Presumably Email address and name, but is there much more, hidden stuff?
I never actually thought about it from this angle. Moreso about how much they have access to by having a Google account, but not the exposure if yiu Email someone on their servers.
I like Tuta more than Proton since they don’t try to get more info. But really you want to hook all the Tuta accounts up to Murena emails (they actually work with apps etc unlike Tuta & Proton etc) then add those to Addy.io, Firefox Relay, and Simplelogin. Bam infinity emails, they’re all searchable and you can archive them offline (since you’re using Arcane Chat or K-9 Mail or whatever)
I’m not paying for a service people force me to use lmao
I’m happy with Fastmail, no idea about Proton, but the Proton CEO’s antics are a bit too tech-bro for me.
Yes the shortcoming is always with the weakest link.
But most of my mail is inbound, so I have control over that. Plus I created sieve filters to automatically tag and organize my mail, including deletion of unimportant stuff like newsletters. Top that with a personal domain and I have everything how I like it.
Anecdotally, in the many years I’ve been with Proton I’ve gotten maybe 2 or 3 spam emails, and they went to the spam folder.
There is also a tutanota mail, worth to consider as well.
You could use pgp or s/mime.
You could email a link to a discussion that’s hosted elsewhere.
I’d love if people in my circles would get onboard with privacy and do that. I tried getting family on Signal and no one seemed to care about their privacy. I could see people simply not joining the discussion due to friction.
For me, yeah, it sucks knowing if you send an email to a gmail user then your message is in google still. But, I take comfort in knowing I’m not signing into or using google myself. Just be aware your emails aren’t protected at all. I agree with the other commenter - use whatever is convenient. Emails are never a very private communication form, either way. I also use proton but have been a bit conflicted since they continue pushing AI integration and I’m not pleased knowing my money is helping fund that for them.
If I send an email to a gmail account my information is still sitting on a Google server. So is Proton worth it?
Due to the nature of email, assume privacy is impossible and just use whatever is easiest (yea, Gmail). Like you mentioned, the message will be in their servers anyways. That is, unless you explicitly only email other Proton users.
I think this is a poor mentality. You’re essentially giving in and increasing Google’s network effect, making privacy harder for everyone. Choosing to use a more private service where possible will shift the power slowly, and there’s really no downside with email. You can do this with a free tier, no money required until it’s worth it for yourself.
I did it that last month, not because I have any expectations of privacy (I wish we could move away from emails entirely), but because I don’t want to be so much at the mercy of what google decides, especially with their recent push on id verification left and right, and ties to this dystopian government. I’m gradually moving away from other of their products too.
If I was browsing options today, I’d also look into calendar and contact management / importing. Proton makes it easy to import existing calendars and they are kept in sync. They’re still improving the calendar features though, so maybe you’ll miss a thing or two there. Contacts are also easy to import, but there’s no feature to keep them in sync with what google has, if you need a transition period. There is a merging/deduplication feature though.
And if you’re using google workspaces, I couldn’t figure out how to send an email from proton using the work domain, so that’s something I still need to use the gmail web client or e.g. thunderbird.
