My camera shoots fascists @Mikal@sfba.social
Public

@JoBlakelyJo-stands on guard, elbows up. @Em0nM4stodonEm :official_verified:

Proton didn't promise anonymity or secrecy, which is the issue here. Sure, they could offer an entire course on individual opsec when you sign up, provide a detailed description of the difference between secrecy, privacy, anonymity, and security. Those resources are available already and...few use them, including activists who most need them.

I think anyone who has ever tried to explain this field (in which I am a hobbyist at best) to a newbie will understand how quickly people's eyes glaze over. It's like how quickly people bounce from Mastodon when asked to choose a server or the resistance to getting friends to ditch WhatsApp for Signal.

All that said, any other privacy-forward email service faces the same challenge and that is what was bothering me here. I've seen people bragging about dumping Proton for [other service], not realizing that [other service] will do exactly the same thing.

= missed learning opportunity.

My camera shoots fascists @Mikal@sfba.social
Public

@JoBlakelyJo-stands on guard, elbows up. @Em0nM4stodonEm :official_verified:

Cross-post...

Again, I want to reiterate that the real lesson here is that people, especially those at risk due to their activism, need to learn basic opsec skills so they understand how to assess risk vs functionality. As an activist that is always a major tradeoff.

This needs to be an opportunity for people to broadly learn the potential failure points of email communications, not to focus on Proton and what they did/didn't/should do.

Reviewing any email provider's interface and security options is a separate topic.

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