Why Is My Email @protonmail.com?

I’m often asked why my email ends in @protonmail.com instead of any of the more common domains like @gmail.com or @outlook.com. The truth is I’ve tried Gmail, Outlook, and Proton Mail, and I’ve selected what I believe is the best option for a professional email! My reasoning for using Proton Mail is based on three of its benefits: open source, privacy, and security.

Open Source

Proton Mail is hosted by Proton AG, a Swiss company dedicated to providing privacy and security-focused services. Proton AG also created Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, and Proton Drive. Check out our article on VPNs here!

A significant benefit of Proton Mail is that its source code is open source! An open source model, as opposed to the closed source nature of Gmail and Outlook, allows transparency and thus instills trust. Anyone can look at the code for Proton Mail’s services and applications, which means Proton Mail is unlikely to be doing anything malicious behind-the-scenes.

Additionally, Proton Mail’s third-party audits reinforce the trustworthiness of the service while providing a clear breakdown of strengths and weaknesses!

By contrast, users must trust that Google and Microsoft are handling their data responsibly. No one can fully verify the code for Gmail and Outlook unless Google and Microsoft let them.

Privacy

Your email may contain some of your most sensitive information, such as your legal documents, financial records, and medical information. This information is critical for you to protect! If in the wrong hands, you could be attacked through a variety of methods ranging from phishing attacks to identity theft.

But the method of choice for companies like Google and Microsoft is much more subtle: targeted advertising.

Your data in the hands of private companies allows them to manipulate what you see on the Internet and through this, persuade you to do things that you otherwise wouldn’t (most commonly buying products and services you don’t need)!

Furthermore, what if your private legal documents, financial records, and medical information are used to manipulate what you pay for insurance or whether you get a job?

Since Gmail’s launch in 2004 all the way until 2017, Google was directly involved in scanning your emails for targeted advertising. Even though Google vowed to stop scanning emails for targeted advertising, it has still maintained access to your emails for other analytics purposes. To make matters worse, Google has still allowed third-parties to read your emails.

Even if your email provider doesn’t read your emails, it can still learn a lot about you through your metadata! Unfortunately, email by nature includes significant metadata, so the only mitigation is to choose a provider you trust. Otherwise, you would need to switch to a different method of communication like Signal as described in our article here, but that isn’t an option for many people who rely on email.

Privacy violations by Google, Microsoft, and other big tech companies continue to be exposed. Just check the news to see the many lawsuits in the US and in Europe (through the GDPR)!

Fortunately, Proton AG is not in the data business and does not use your data for targeted advertising.

Proton AG cannot see the content of your emails since they are zero-access encrypted on their servers and end-to-end encrypted among Proton Mail users. While Proton AG can still see your metadata, I have more trust that Proton AG will keep this data confidential as opposed to Google and Microsoft which have faced repeated privacy violations.

Security

Proton Mail has many security improvements compared to most email providers like Gmail and Outlook! As mentioned, emails are zero-access encrypted on Proton Mail servers, meaning Proton AG cannot see the contents of what you store on your account. Proton Mail emails are also end-to-end encrypted among Proton Mail users, meaning only the sender and recipient can see the contents of the emails.

Most importantly, this encryption is enabled by default for all users!

Proton Mail also comes with many other security features! Most notably, Proton Mail offers password-protected emails for communication among users of any email providers.

Other features include blocking tracking pixels in marketing emails, displaying the full URL of links before opening them, and flagging potentially spoofed email addresses.

Meanwhile, Google only recently announced the introduction of end-to-end encryption, and it is only available for beta-testers on Google Workspace accounts.

Shortcomings

In my experience, Proton Mail offers the superior features and experience without requiring me to make many significant compromises.

However, that isn’t to say that Proton Mail doesn’t have weaknesses to consider.

Proton AG doesn’t generate nearly as much revenue as Google considering it is a smaller company with fewer services that do not include using data for advertising purposes.

As such, the Proton Mail free plan provides significantly less storage than other email providers at 500 mb. For more features, such as the Proton Mail Bridge which is needed to use Proton Mail on third-party clients, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan.

Other features have yet to be implemented on all platforms, such as attachment reminders and undo send.

A specific issue for me is that the Android app is Google Services Framework dependent. As such, users of de-Googled phones like me and my Pixel 6 running Graphene OS don’t receive notifications for new emails.

However, this limitation has given me the opportunity to reduce my dependence on the monopoly power that is Google while also changing my workflow for the better by not being constantly bombarded with email notifications.

Making the Switch

Changing email addresses is undoubtedly a massive undertaking, so making the switch is a decision that you must carefully consider.

If you do decide to make the switch, Proton Mail makes it easy! With Proton Easy Switch, you can automatically import your emails, calendars, and contacts from your Google or Microsoft account!

I’ve had no regrets since I began using Proton Mail for my professional email. There are no features I miss from Gmail or Outlook, and I can’t remember how I felt comfortable without all of Proton Mail’s privacy and security features!

For more about improving your email, check out our article about email aliasing here!