What Exactly is ProtonMail and How Does it Differ From Gmail?

Proton Mail, a secure e-mail platform, is specifically designed to ensure the protection of your e-mail content and personal identity. In what aspects does ProtonMail significantly differ from a popular e-mail provider, namly Gmail? Furthermore, is it now necessary to transition to Proton Mail?

It is true that while major e-mail providers claim to respect and value your privacy, Proton Mail distinguishes itself by taking additional measures to safeguard your personal information. This is in contrast to large E-mail providers (they are fairly well known globally), which prioritise plentiful free storage and integrated services over enhanced privacy and security features.

Proton Mail is among a select few secure E-mail providers that diverge from the traditional webmail approach by offering advanced privacy and security features by default. There are other features which can be unlocked on a subscription plan. In contrast, Google monetises its free Gmail service by displaying ads, whereas Proton Mail does not incorporate any advertisings.

Google and Microsoft incorporate basic (standard) security measures of 2FA and securing the connection between the user’s browser and their servers. However, Proton Mail elevates its security standards by refraining from or simply not logging identifiable information, utilising a data storage approach that is useless to 3rd parties, and facilitating private conversations between users more efficiently.

All messages in your Proton Mail are stored with zero-access encryption. It means PM cannot read any of your messages or hand them over to third parties.

Although Proton Mail can potentially represents an improvement over Gmail, certain considerations should be taken into account. The free plan offered by Proton Mail is limited, providing only 500 MB of storage. To be on par with Gmail’s 15 GB storage, it will be 3.49€ / month. Furthermore, many of the features that enhance the functionality of Gmail are not possible with Proton Mail due to the emphasis on privacy and security. For instance, automatic e-mail scanning for adding events to your calendar is not available with Proton Mail — whether you are receiving an invite or writing one.

Choosing between a conventional e-mail provider such as Google and a provider that champions in privacy and security (Proton Mail) depends on the user’s priorities on convenience and privacy. If you desire an e-mail service that offers the full range of features many have come to love in Gmail, then Proton Mail may not be the optimal choice for you.

All about Data Protection and Secure Messaging

Proton Mail adopts a comprehensive data protection approach by encrypting all data on the server with zero-access encryption. Data stored in this state is practically useless to anyone without the corresponding decryption key. Even in an event of a security breach, data obtained from Proton Mail’s servers would be of no value. Not even Proton Mail can read your E-mail.

However, conventional webmail providers, such as Gmail, only encrypt data during transmission of E-mail between the user’s browser and its servers. Google uses AI to analyse your E-mail content and offer useful suggestions via services like Google Assistant. This feature has become vital for many users, as Gmail can tell what you’re doing and when you’re doing it based on the content of your inbox.

There is a variety of tools within Proton Mail that enables secure messaging between users. Communications between Proton Mail users are automatically encrypted end-to-end, ensuring that even Proton Mail’s employees cannot access the E-mails. Proton Mail also integrates the use of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption, enabling users to “lock” e-mail content so that only intended recipients with the corresponding key can open and read its content.

Similar to Egress Mail, Proton Mail also provides the option to send transient e-mails, password-protected messages to any webmail platforms. This feature is not available on Gmail or Outlook.

Although it is technically possible to use PGP within Gmail, it is difficult to set it up and has to be done with browser extensions, or add-ons. Mailvelope, and FlowCrypt explicitly supports the feature but PGP integration is less streamlined. It is cumbersome — especially on mobile.

Unconventional To Know Only Very Little About You

Proton Mail offers a more privacy-focused approach to account creation. It does not require any personal information to sign up. All you ever need is to just supply a user name, and password, with the optional to add a recovery e-mail. You may have your display name displayed as anything you want.

Proton Mail also minimises user tracking by discarding metadata, and not logging IP addresses — making it difficult to trace e-mail origins. Reminder: never assume complete anonymity online. No guarantees even with VPN.

In contrast, Google is primarily a global advertising company and relies on tracking to deliver targeted ads. Google Analytics and other services help website owners monitor traffic, while user tracking enables seamless transitions between different Google services such as Gmail and Google Drive without the need for multiple logins. An idea similar to single-sign-on (SSO).

Time to Migrate to Proton Mail?

I have to agree. It really comes down to personal preferences and priorities. If you care a lot about privacy and security, and (maybe) anonymity over features that make routine tasks convenient, then Proton Mail is definitely worth considering.

However, if convenience and integration with other Google services are more important, then sticking with Google is the obvious decision. Like myself, why not have both?

It’s always a good idea to do your own research and weigh the advantages and cons.

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