March 17th, 2016
Geneva, Switzerland
Swiss encrypted email Provider
Proton Mail, the world’s largest encrypted email provider, is announcing today that the service is leaving beta and will be allowing open registrations for the first time in nearly two years. Concurrently, the service will be launching its free iOS and Android mobile applications globally in the Apple App store and Google Play store.
The privacy focused email service was first launched in beta in May 2014 by a group of scientists who met at CERN and MIT. In the post-Snowden environment, Proton Mail was hit with overwhelming demand and forced to institute a waiting list for new accounts after signups exceeded 10’000 per day. For the past two years, Proton Mail has been invite-only and today has over 1 million users participating in its closed beta, including businesses, journalists, activists, and private individuals.
The Company’s innovative email service features end-to-end encryption, which makes it practically impossible for governments, or even Proton Mail itself, to gain access to user messages, ensuring the highest level of security and privacy. In the past two years, the Company has been frequently thrust into the public debate over encryption and terrorism(new window), and like Apple, has on occasion needed to fight governments to protect user privacy(new window).
“Strong encryption and privacy are a social and economic necessity, not only does this technology protect activists and dissidents, it is also key to securing the world’s digital infrastructure,” says Proton Mail Co-Founder Dr. Andy Yen, “this is why all things considered, strong encryption is absolutely necessary for the greater good.”
In light of recent challenges against encryption and privacy, Proton Mail has decided to open the service for public registration so anyone that wants an encrypted email account can obtain one immediately.
“The best way to ensure that encryption and privacy rights are not encroached upon is to get the tools into the hands of the public as soon as possible and widely distributing them,” says Yen, “This way, we put the choice in the hands of the consumer, and not government regulators.”
“The past decade has been marked by a massive erosion of privacy and we’re working to reverse this trend,” says Yen. “Encrypted communications is the future and Proton Mail is committed to making online privacy a reality again for all Internet users.”
About Proton Mail
Proton Mail is a service offered by Proton AG (Switzerland). Every day, the Proton Mail team, brought together by a shared vision of protecting civil liberties, works to advance Internet security and privacy. Proton Mail is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, near CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) where the founders met in 2013, and under the protection of strong Swiss privacy laws. Today, Proton Mail is one of the fastest growing companies in Switzerland with three offices globally, and was ranked last year by Business Insider as the hottest start-up in Switzerland(new window).
Proton Mail is a uniquely community-driven company. Initial funding came from an online crowdfunding campaign that raised $550,000(new window) and set a record for a software technology project. Since then Proton Mail’s growth has been largely supported by the user community through a donation model similar to Wikipedia, along with additional support from a non-profit foundation supported by the Canton of Geneva. We are strong believers in Open Source and Open Standards, and all Proton Mail client-side code is open source and reviewed by our community. Together, we are building a safer and more open Internet that respects privacy.
