How Proton Mail is forced to share information with the police.
The Proton Mail service gave out user data to law enforcement agencies, which led to the arrest of a suspect in the case of terrorism – a member of the Catalan organization for independence "Democratic Tsunami".
Recently, privacy concerns re-emerged when Proton Mail provided the Spanish police with the backup email address of a person under the pseudonym "Xuxo Rondinaire". It is suspected that this person is a Catalan police officer (Mossos d'Esquadra), who used his knowledge to help the Democratic Tsunami movement. Sources close to the investigation confirmed that the suspect is indeed an active police officer.
After receiving information about the restored address from Proton Mail, the Spanish authorities contacted Apple with a request for additional information, which led to identification of the person.
The case stands out because it involves a series of requests affecting different jurisdictions and companies, highlighting the complex interaction between technology firms, user privacy,and law enforcement.
The requests were made on the basis of anti-terrorism laws, although the main activities of "Democratic Tsunami" included protests and roadblocks, which raises questions about the proportionality and validity of such measures.
Proton Mail, following Swiss laws, was obliged to cooperate with international legal requests formalized through the Swiss judicial system. Last year, the company met almost 6,000 requests for data output. Proton Mail emphasizes that the contents of emails, attachments, and files always remain encrypted and unreadable.
Commenting on the situation, Proton Mail stated that it has minimal user information, as evidenced by the fact that in this case, the data received from Apple was used to identify a terrorist suspect. Proton provides privacy by default, rather than anonymity, because anonymity requires certain user actions to ensure proper operational security (OpSec), such as refusing to add an Apple account as an additional recovery method.
This case highlights the importance of careful compliance with operational security (OPSEC), especially for users engaged in political activities. We recommend that you avoid linking recovery emails or phone numbers that can directly indicate your identity, and consider using secondary emails or virtual phone numbers for additional anonymity.
The case also mentions the case of 2021, when ProtonMail disclosed the IP addresses of a number of its French users associated with the "green" movement Youth for Climate. The data was provided at the request of the French authorities, after which the issued users were arrested.
This case is not an isolated one. In August 2023, the FBI was able to obtain the data of an American ProtonMail user accused of threats, and then use this data to calculate his physical location and arrest him.
The Proton Mail service gave out user data to law enforcement agencies, which led to the arrest of a suspect in the case of terrorism – a member of the Catalan organization for independence "Democratic Tsunami".
Recently, privacy concerns re-emerged when Proton Mail provided the Spanish police with the backup email address of a person under the pseudonym "Xuxo Rondinaire". It is suspected that this person is a Catalan police officer (Mossos d'Esquadra), who used his knowledge to help the Democratic Tsunami movement. Sources close to the investigation confirmed that the suspect is indeed an active police officer.
After receiving information about the restored address from Proton Mail, the Spanish authorities contacted Apple with a request for additional information, which led to identification of the person.
The case stands out because it involves a series of requests affecting different jurisdictions and companies, highlighting the complex interaction between technology firms, user privacy,and law enforcement.
The requests were made on the basis of anti-terrorism laws, although the main activities of "Democratic Tsunami" included protests and roadblocks, which raises questions about the proportionality and validity of such measures.
Proton Mail, following Swiss laws, was obliged to cooperate with international legal requests formalized through the Swiss judicial system. Last year, the company met almost 6,000 requests for data output. Proton Mail emphasizes that the contents of emails, attachments, and files always remain encrypted and unreadable.
Commenting on the situation, Proton Mail stated that it has minimal user information, as evidenced by the fact that in this case, the data received from Apple was used to identify a terrorist suspect. Proton provides privacy by default, rather than anonymity, because anonymity requires certain user actions to ensure proper operational security (OpSec), such as refusing to add an Apple account as an additional recovery method.
This case highlights the importance of careful compliance with operational security (OPSEC), especially for users engaged in political activities. We recommend that you avoid linking recovery emails or phone numbers that can directly indicate your identity, and consider using secondary emails or virtual phone numbers for additional anonymity.
The case also mentions the case of 2021, when ProtonMail disclosed the IP addresses of a number of its French users associated with the "green" movement Youth for Climate. The data was provided at the request of the French authorities, after which the issued users were arrested.
This case is not an isolated one. In August 2023, the FBI was able to obtain the data of an American ProtonMail user accused of threats, and then use this data to calculate his physical location and arrest him.
