What's Proton Mail and why many prefer it over Gmail?
Proton Mail, a product of Switzerland-based Proton, has been the flagbearer of privacy in the world of email service providers. The company has now revealed several features that make Proton Mail more than just a secure alternative option to established names such as Gmail and Microsoft Outlook. Let's take a look at what makes Proton Mail special and its upcoming features.
Proton Mail entered public beta in 2014
Proton founded its email service in 2013. In 2014, Proton Mail entered public beta. It entered the fray by offering privacy to emails like never offered before. Proton Mail's beginning was powered by a crowdfunding campaign that generated more than the company hoped. Proton has placed the email service's servers in Switzerland, making it easier for the company to enforce its privacy dream.
Proton Mail sacrificed integrated services and free storage for privacy
Gmail and its ilk offer good security features like two-factor authentication and secure connection with their servers. So you might wonder what makes Proton Mail so special. Proton Mail makes a significant sacrifice that the big players don't. While major services focus on providing an enhanced user experience through free storage and integrated services, Proton focuses on heightened privacy and security.
Proton Mail has encrypted data in the server
Proton Mail has encrypted all data on its servers and no one, not even Proton, can access that data without a key to decrypt it. This is different from what Google does with Gmail. Its servers are not encrypted. Google can read your emails using AI to make useful suggestions. Did you think Gmail's suggestions when you write an email are random?
It allows users to send password-protected, self-destructing messages
Proton Mail doesn't just encrypt data on the server, it also provides automatic end-to-end encryption for messages sent between Proton Mail users. It also has 'Pretty Good Privacy' (PGP) that lets you lock the contents of an email and only the recipient's key will be able to unlock the email. Proton Mail also allows sending password-protected, self-destructing messages to any platform.
Proton Mail knows very little about its users
Another factor that makes Proton Mail stand out in the crowd is how little it knows about the user. To create an account, all you need to enter is a username and a password. You can input a recovery email if you want. Proton Mail also doesn't store IP addresses. It discards metadata, which makes it hard to find the origin point of emails.
Proton Mail's servers are located in Switzerland
A trump card in Proton Mail's hand is where its servers are located. Being in Switzerland makes it easier for Proton to not comply with any information-sharing or surveillance requests from countries. Switzerland is not part of the Five Eyes intelligence allegiance, an intelligence-sharing community. The company has said that it is located in Switzerland because of strict privacy laws.
Proton is introducing Gmail-like changes
We saw earlier that Proton Mail sacrificed features for more privacy. However, things are about to change. And for that, Proton has decided to follow the path of the unlikeliest of competitors - Gmail. The Swiss company wants to make the life of its users not just secure but easier as well. Some new features coming to Proton Mail and Calendar are very Google-like.
Proton Mail will get email scheduling, email reminders, and snoozing
Gmail has been offering message scheduling to its users for several years. This allows users to set a time and date on which they want the email to be sent. Proton is also working on a similar feature. Like Gmail, Proton Mail will also get email reminders and snoozing emails. With reminders, users can set an alert to respond to an email later.
It will get more features to block email tracking
Proton is also bringing some privacy updates to Mail. The company will add more features to block email tracking. The company said that it is also working on expanding full message search to the mobile app. As of now, it is only available to premium users on the web. The search feature will work using a locally-stored index by downloading emails to the phone.
Proton Mail is working on shielding real email address
Another Gmail-like feature coming to Proton Mail is the Drive and Mail integration. Any attachment that exceeds Proton Mail's 25MB limit will be automatically uploaded to Proton Drive. Google has been providing this feature for a long time. Proton is also working on integrating SimpleLogin's email aliases and Proton Mail to shield real email addresses.
Should you pick Proton Mail over Gmail?
Our lengthy discussion has led us here, with one question left to answer. Should you pick Proton Mail over Gmail? There is no right answer to this question. If you're a fan of all the services Gmail offers, stick with it because Proton Mail doesn't provide half of that. However, if you choose privacy over user experience, Proton Mail is the way ahead.
