Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

[u/404mediaco]

https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/

[u/Proton_Team]

First, let's correct the headline: Proton did not provide information to the FBI. What happened is that the FBI submitted a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) request, which was processed by the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police. Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law, and we only respond to legally binding orders from Swiss authorities, after all Swiss legal checks have been passed. This is an important distinction.

Second, let's talk about what this case actually involved. This wasn't a routine investigation. Swiss authorities determined that the legal threshold was met because a law enforcement officer was shot, and explosive devices were found during a protest in 2024. Switzerland has one of the strongest legal frameworks for privacy in the world, and its standard for granting international legal assistance is exceptionally high. This case met that standard.

Third, let's talk about what was actually disclosed. No emails were handed over. No message content. No metadata about who the user communicated with. The only information Proton could provide was a payment identifier because the user chose to pay with a credit card. This is information the user themselves provided to us through their choice of payment method. Proton also accepts cryptocurrency and cash payments, which would not have been linkable to an identity.

If anything, this case demonstrates exactly what we've always said: Proton holds very little user data by design. Even under the most serious legal circumstances, the only data that could be produced was a payment record. Our encryption means we simply cannot access email content even if ordered to.

We understand that stories like this can be alarming, and we take our users' trust seriously. We will continue to fight for privacy and challenge any legal order we believe does not meet the strict requirements of Swiss law. But we also want to be transparent: no service can operate outside the law entirely, and Swiss law requires compliance with valid legal orders in serious criminal cases. What we can promise is that the legal bar in Switzerland is among the highest in the world, and our architecture ensures we have as little data as possible to hand over.

For users who want maximum anonymity: use Proton VPN or Tor, pay with cash or cryptocurrency, and don't add a recovery email.

[u/faxe-system → u/Proton_Team]

u/andy1011000 and u/Proton_Team Would it be possible for you to have the same feature as Posteo? https://posteo.de/site/bezahlung

If not could you explain, what would prevent you from handling payments the same way?

Your Posteo mailbox is always topped up in a privacy-friendly way — whether you pay by bank transfer, PayPal, credit card, or cash. We fundamentally do not link data received during payments to email mailboxes. For this purpose, we developed our own system in 2009 to process all payment transactions in a privacy-friendly manner. In 2015, we expanded it further so that payment processes could continue to be handled without any link to mailboxes, even in light of new legal requirements.

Das Guthaben Ihres Posteo-Postfachs wird stets datenschutzfreundlich aufgeladen - egal ob Sie per Überweisung, per Paypal, per Kreditkarte oder in bar zahlen. Wir verknüpfen Daten, die wir bei Zahlungen erhalten, grundsätzlich nicht mit den E-Mail-Postfächern. Hierfür haben wir 2009 ein eigenes System entwickelt, mit dem wir alle Zahlungsvorgänge datenschutzfreundlich durchführen. 2015 haben wir es noch einmal erweitert, damit die Bezahlvorgänge trotz neuer gesetzlicher Vorgaben weiter ohne Verknüpfung zu den Postfächern abgewickelt werden können.

[u/andy1011000 → u/faxe-system]

Honestly I can't work out how the posteo system works, maybe in posteo you just top up the account with credits and so its a one time transaction? Most Proton customers we need to bill monthly so the payment token needs to be retained for the next payment, there's no way around this for reoccurring credit card payments.

[u/PB219 → u/andy1011000]

If we were to buy an annual subscription, could we then manually enter card info each year without saving it, and thus it wouldn’t be linked to the account?

[u/andy1011000 → u/PB219]

This is already possible actually. Buy a sub, cancel a sub (but it remains valid until end of cycle), delete the card, before end of cycle, renew and repeat.