this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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They only sorta provide IMAP. You need to run Proton Bridge on your computer and that program will connect to their service and provide a local IMAP connection to your mail app of choice. It’s all a bit hacky but works well enough.
That's a sign that they aren't goofing on the encrypted part. If done right, they can't decrypt your emails to hand them over on IMAP, so a bridge would be necessary to decrypt on your equipment, then hand off the decrypted mail to your IMAP client. It's nice they offer that solution.
What’s the point with emails that were transmitted unencrypted over the Internet right before that? It’s like sending a post card via mail and then putting it into a safe at the receiver's side. Sure it’s secure there, but that’s entirely pointless.
I wouldn't say it's entirely pointless. You are correct that by the nature of email proton has to be able to read it in transit, there's no avoiding that, it's how email(and SMTP specifically) works. But what it does mean is that proton can honestly say it can't read emails once they move beyond their edge systems. Personally, I don't use email for anything critical or sensitive without additional encryption.
It's a sign they use non-standard tech and lock you in progressively... while touting encryption at rest as a big advantage, when it doesn't mean anything for email.
The Proton bubble is one evil acquisition away from bursting.