Most secure Swiss-based Webmail for Gratis
ProtonMail utilizes strong end-to-end and zero-access encryption standards to protect all email, contacts, and calendar data. That means all your data is encrypted when stored on ProtonMail servers. ProtonMail has several exciting features, including the ability to send “self-destructing messages,” which are automatically deleted at a time specified by a sender of the message or email.
When it comes to sending important mails, you always think of security and privacy. ProtonMail’s all servers are geo-located in secure datacenters of Switzerland. What it essentials means is all your user data is protected by lucid and strict Swiss Privacy Laws. In order to maintain the integrity of the service, it must take measures to avoid creation of accounts by spammers. It is done to prevent spammers from using ProtonMail’s servers to send messages and eventually getting ProtonMail’s IP addresses grey or black-listed by major email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.
Why choose ProtonMail over Gmail?
ProtonMail allows you to use some features in free to showcase their service and to let them try the features to get a paid account some day. Even though we use Gmail for free, our precious data is actually the product. While it’s true that you do not pay with every month, you pay with something far more precious, that is your personal or business data. It can also include your location history, health records in a streamlined manner good enough to make a complete profile of yourself with the most private information on you. By letting you use the service for free, Google keeps complete track of your personal or business data.
While ProtonMail also provides free email accounts, they do not sell your personal information to advertisers or scan your inbox for clues about your interests and habits. ProtonMail avoid this by financing their business through paid plans that include additional features and customer support. Paid plans are the only source of revenue. These free accounts are also funded by generous donations. Users who subscribe to paid plans can access extra features such as more storage space, multiple email addresses, auto-responder, custom domain support, more labels and filters. ProtonMail do not ask for any personal details to create an account, and provides users several privacy-conscious payment options, including Bitcoin and cash to pay for the services.
Security details and Privacy Policy of ProtonMail
- End-to-End Encryption
ProtonMail uses end-to-end encryption and zero access encryption to secure emails. This means even they cannot decrypt and read your emails. As a result, your encrypted emails cannot be shared with third parties.
- Data Collection
The company’s overriding policy is to collect as little user information as possible to ensure a completely private and anonymous user experience when using the Service. They also have no technical means to access your encrypted message contents.
- IP Logging
By default, ProtonMail does not keep permanent IP logs. However, IP logs may be kept temporarily to combat abuse and fraud, and your IP address may be retained permanently if you are engaged in activities that breach our terms and conditions (spamming, DDoS attacks against ProtonMail infrastructure, brute force attacks, etc). “The legal basis of this processing is our legitimate interest to protect our service against nefarious activities.” according to ProtonMail Privacy.
- Data Storage
All servers used in connection with the provisioning of the Service are located in Switzerland and wholly owned and operated by the Company. Only employees of the Company have physical or other access to the servers. Data is ALWAYS stored in encrypted format on our servers. Offline backups may be stored periodically, but these are also encrypted. We do not possess the ability to access any user encrypted message content on either the production servers or in the backups.
Features of ProtonMail
All ProtonMail servers are physically located in Switzerland in secure facilities or data centers. This means user data is protected by Swiss law, which generally provides for better privacy than USA or EU law.
ProtonMail claims, “They believe email privacy should be available to all. That’s why our code is open source and basic ProtonMail accounts are always free. You can support the project by donating or upgrading to a paid account.”
ProtonMail Bridge, which allows ProtonMail to integrate with other email clients that support the IMAP and SMTP protocols. This also allows you to import emails into your ProtonMail account from other services.
Anyone can sign up for ProtonMail and get 500 MB of online storage for free. Paid accounts include up to 20 GB of storage in addition to priority customer support and other productivity features. The free service should suffice if you occasionally send encrypted email.
ProtonVPN, a truly free no-logs VPN service
ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland which includes some of the most stringent privacy laws in the world. They also have now open-sourced and audited all of their apps and include a number of powerful security features such as DNS protection and their own Secure Core which re-routes traffic via their Swiss-based servers. ProtonVPN is packed with robust security features to protect your connection. Your IP address is masked and kept safe with built-in DNS leak protection. ProtonVPN provides 1060 servers from 54 different countries and over 1240Gbps capacity.
When you activate your VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a server operated by the VPN company. Sending your traffic through the tunnel keeps it hidden from anyone on the same network as you, and from your ISP that is all too willing to sell your anonymous data. A VPN also hides your true IP address, making it harder for advertisers to track you across the web. If you select a distant server, you can even spoof your location to appear in a distant country.
Privacy and Security for everyone
According to ProtonVPN, “We built ProtonVPN with extra security features to make it better at protecting your privacy than an ordinary VPN. When you use ProtonVPN to browse the web, your Internet connection is encrypted. By routing your connection through encrypted tunnels, ProtonVPN’s advanced security features ensure that an attacker cannot eavesdrop on your connection. It also allows you to access websites that might be blocked in your country.”
Its mission is to make online security and privacy accessible to all. To help achieve this goal, they provide a free VPN so that everyone can securely and privately access the Internet.
The free plan is the only one that:
- Has no data or speed limits
- Has no advertisements
- Does not log your online activity
- Is protected by Swiss privacy laws
Like ProtonMail, ProtonVPN headquarter is also located in Switzerland which has some of the world’s strongest privacy laws. Switzerland is also outside of EU and US jurisdiction and is not a member of the fourteen eyes surveillance network. Regular VPN services can be compromised if their servers are under surveillance. ProtonVPN prevents this by first passing user traffic through our Secure Core network in privacy-friendly countries like Switzerland and Iceland. Thus, even a compromised VPN endpoint server will not reveal your true IP address.
ProtonVPN is a true no-logs VPN service provider. They do not track or record your internet activity. ProtonVPN also integrates with the Tor anonymity network. With a single click, you can route all your traffic through the Tor network and access Onion sites. Keep your browsing history private. As a Swiss privacy VPN provider, it does log user activity or share data with third parties. ProtonVPN anonymous VPN service enables Internet without surveillance.
Conclusion
While there are some free VPNs out there, keep in mind that often times you are limited in the amount of traffic that you can use per month, or limited in terms by how many features might be available in VPN’s paid services. ProtonVPN stands out as a free VPN service that you can rely on.
Moreover, Proton Technologies AG is also coming up with a new product called ProtonDrive, a cloud storage or drive solution like Google Drive that will aim to protect and encrypt user data ProtonMaiand offer an easy to use secure solution for its users. I hope, it provides, state-of-the-art, robust cloud drive solution with a possible free-tier plan like with ProtonVPN and ProtonMail to safely store your important files and documents under Switzerland’s jurisdiction.
