Per this policy, Proton says delays can affect notifications if: There is a temporary prohibition on notice by the Swiss legal process itself, by Swiss court order or “applicable Swiss law” or where “based on information supplied by law enforcement, we, in our absolute discretion, believe that providing notice could create a risk of injury, death, or irreparable damage to an identifiable individual or group of individuals.” Here the company reiterates that Swiss law “requires a user to be notified if a third party makes a request for their private data and such data is to be used in a criminal proceeding” - however it also notes that “in certain circumstances” a notification “can be delayed.” However, Yen told us that - “for privacy and legal reasons” - he is unable to comment on specific details of the case or provide “non-public information on active investigations,” adding: “You would have to direct these inquiries to the Swiss authorities.”Īt the same time, he did point us to this public page, where ProtonMail provides information for law enforcement authorities seeking data about users of its end-to-end encrypted email service, including setting out a “ProtonMail user notification policy.” One key question is exactly when the targeted account holder was notified that their data had been requested by Swiss authorities since - per ProtonMail - notification is obligatory under Swiss law. TechCrunch contacted ProtonMail founder and CEO Andy Yen with questions about the case. As soon as a crime is committed, privacy protections can be suspended and we're required by Swiss law to answer requests from Swiss authorities. The data transmitted by the company is limited to that due to the privacy policy of PROTONMAIL TECHNOLOGIES.The device used is a … device identified with the number ….The company PROTONMAIL informs us that the email address has been created on … The IP address linked to the account is the following: ….That message contains details about the ProtonMail account. It says that French police received a message from Europol. According to the police report is related to the ongoing investigation against the group who occupied various premises around Place Sainte-Marthe. The next day, on Twitter shared an abstract of a police report detailing ProtonMail’s reply. The address has also been shared on various anarchist websites. According to their story, French police sent an Europol request to ProtonMail in order to uncover the identity of the person who created a ProtonMail account - the group was using this email address to communicate. On September 1, the group published an article on, an anti-capitalist news website, summing up different police investigations and legal cases against some members of the group. Image Credits: Chabe01 (opens in a new window) / Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new window) under a CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new window) license.

They attracted newspaper headlines when they started occupying premises rented by Le Petit Cambodge - a restaurant that was targeted by the Novemterrorist attacks in Paris. While it started as a local conflict, it quickly became a symbolic campaign. They want to fight against gentrification, real estate speculation, Airbnb and high-end restaurants. While ProtonMail didn’t cooperate with French authorities, French police sent a request to Swiss police via Europol to force the company to obtain the IP address of one of its users.įor the past year, a group of people have taken over a handful of commercial premises and apartments near Place Sainte Marthe in Paris.

The company has communicated widely about the incident, stating that it doesn’t log IP addresses by default and it only complies with local regulation - in that case Swiss law. ProtonMail, a hosted email service with a focus on end-to-end encrypted communications, has been facing criticism after a police report showed that French authorities managed to obtain the IP address of a French activist who was using the online service.

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