Previously we told you about ProtonMail, an email service said to be totally surveillance proof. The developers of this service are going to release a mobile app soon and this follows a very successful Indiegogo campaign which is known to raise around 6 times of the initial goal of $100,000.
This is an extremely successful record in the world of technology and indicates a huge demand for huge levels of privacy in the cyber world.
Instead of seeking out the Silicon Valley funding, incorporation of the startup by Switzerland was made in order to crowd fund the growth of costs. This is because unfortunately, too many VCs nowadays are just looking for a quick profit, speaks the ProtonMail’s cofounder Andy Yen who has his base in MIT.
We want to protect people around the world from the mass surveillance that is currently being perpetrated by governments and corporations around the world, The physic laboratory in Switzerland spoke while explaining their funding role.
The team was also taken aback when they realized that Paypal silently froze the account,
We were shocked as PayPal gave us no warning spoke Yen. We found out when campaign contributors began emailing us saying they would not contribute to our campaign anymore, which is really the worst possible way to find out.
Yen speaks of the fact that PayPal rep chose to ask the team about whether or not they were having US government’s support for the encryption of emails.
Luckily, the matter was resolved in less than 24 hours with the help of supporters from around the world. Privacy is after all a protected right, even in the US.
ProtonMail operates by encrypting messages which are present in the browser of the user before it finally goes to the servers. This denotes that the company never can access the password and neither can the mails be read.
Many people believe that being based in Switzerland is a critical part of ProtonMail’s security. However, due to the way ProtonMails encryption works, it doesn’t really matter where we store our data, Yen further speaks. Another important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as 100% security. This applies generally to all systems, and it also applies to ProtonMail. That being said, we are continually improving security, especially during our beta test, and security will always be ProtonMails main focus.
This service has seen growth very speedily from 20,000 users to about 250,000 signups. Moreover, the development of mobile apps for Android and iOS, ProtonMails has grown to about ten staff members and expansion has taken place in Switzerland.
Catching up with demand is challenging for CERN along with MIT scientists. They are conducting research in the field of mathematics, computer science and physics.
ProtonMails user base is growing rapidly, and finding the appropriate talent to support our growth is a challenge, Yen says. They also experience pressure due to the need to get those 100,000 individuals on board.
Secure email is a challenging undertaking, and the amount of work still to be done is enormous, he continues but, by talking and interacting with our users, we have a real sense of how important privacy is to people around the world.
