Proton Suspended Journalist Accounts Citing Term of Service Violations

truemagic · 15 Sep 2025, 10:55 AM

Another interesting article which garner attention in privacy of ProtonMail

https://cyberinsider.com/proton-susp...ce-violations/

Excerpt:

Quote:

Despite these efforts to disclose the breach, Proton disabled the accounts, citing concerns about potential damage to its service. In its initial response on social media, Proton...

What's your thought?

evfrson · 15 Sep 2025, 07:29 PM

As far as I can see they didn't violate any terms of service and were just scared of having their service destroyed by North Korea.
I've always had a low opinion of Proton. I think their service sucks and this article only reinforces that view.
They are a disgrace.

janusz · 15 Sep 2025, 10:17 PM

Another quote from the original cyberinsider source.

Quote:

Proton ultimately reinstated two suspended accounts after widespread outcry on social media

TenFour · 15 Sep 2025, 11:16 PM

It is always hard to form an opinion without knowing all the facts, which may never happen.

Bamb0 · 16 Sep 2025, 04:08 AM

I guess we cant blame them for trying to protect thier own network and all......

SethM · 19 Sep 2025, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamb0

I guess we cant blame them for trying to protect thier own network and all......

This sort of happened to me years ago with wikileaks when they were bouncing around hosts. One of my users added wikileaks domains/mirrors to their DNS account, after which I started getting calls to our office from journalists asking for interviews or comments. Because we actually answer our phones I was confused why I'm answering calls about something I don't know why I'm being targeted over until one of them explained they got our contact info through the NS IP whois.

I ended up having to tell the customer to remove all wikileaks stuff because it was attracting too much attention and we are too small to have a PR/legal department on staff who can handle stuff like that. So we have no choice but to stop it.

I'm sure there are plenty of people would disagree with me and thought I should "take a stand", but that takes a lot of money, time, and people to deal with it.

Bamb0 · 19 Sep 2025, 02:53 PM

Wow Im sorry you went thru that..... I dont think it was done on purpose.......

frtrsysli · 20 Sep 2025, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SethM

This sort of happened to me years ago with wikileaks when they were bouncing around hosts. One of my users added wikileaks domains/mirrors to their DNS account, after which I started getting calls to our office from journalists asking for interviews or comments. Because we actually answer our phones I was confused why I'm answering calls about something I don't know why I'm being targeted over until one of them explained they got our contact info through the NS IP whois.

I ended up having to tell the customer to remove all wikileaks stuff because it was attracting too much attention and we are too small to have a PR/legal department on staff who can handle stuff like that. So we have no choice but to stop it.

I'm sure there are plenty of people would disagree with me and thought I should "take a stand", but that takes a lot of money, time, and people to deal with it.

That's truly a dilemma to face. In the specific case of protonmail, phrack probably has sufficient necessary resources to deal with it, but for a small business or even an individual... think about it, what would be the way out?

SethM · 20 Sep 2025, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamb0

Wow Im sorry you went thru that..... I dont think it was done on purpose.......

No, they didn't do it intending to be harmful, but we aren't equipped to handle people showing up at our office or flooding our phones. Requests for interviews were the least harmful thing that could have happened, but it needed to be stopped there before it escalated.

Bamb0 · 20 Sep 2025, 12:48 PM

No I def understand!!!

chrisretusn · 20 Sep 2025, 02:39 PM

I don't have a Proton account so no skin in the game. Both accounts have been restored. This would not stop me for going with Proton in the future.

After reading the article and the links in that article. I'd say that this reditt post sums it up.

dojyx · 20 Sep 2025, 04:20 PM

I instantly left Proton when I registered ProtonMail addresses for recovery emails and received a warning to use their service for bulk signups.

Most users will receive numerous warning emails from gg while signing in using a new browser, device, or changing their information or password. Fortunately for me, I completed all of these things at the same time, resulting in numerous emails to my recovery account.

It was a prudent decision to leave it promptly before using it for future accounts.

TenFour · 20 Sep 2025, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Proton generally only suspends accounts if 1) forced to do so by a Swiss govt order 2) we are sure beyond a reasonable doubt the user breached Protons Terms of Service (ToS) or 3) we detect that the user has been compromised.

Note the key word bolded and underlined in the quote from Proton's response on Reddit. Weasel words like that are used throughout that statement. The bottom line is their policy is not clear cut and transparent--it is subjective. I'm not saying that is all bad, because hard and fast rules should always have exceptions. I just don't like the way they are saying it.

webecedarian · 6 Oct 2025, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evfrson

As far as I can see they didn't violate any terms of service and were just scared of having their service destroyed by North Korea.
I've always had a low opinion of Proton. I think their service sucks and this article only reinforces that view.
They are a disgrace.

Why? Could you explain your low opinion? I've generally read only praise.

dojyx · 6 Oct 2025, 02:18 PM

Personally, I see them as a honey pot for those who want to avoid big tech, specifically Google. They could also be subsidiaries of Google or ABC, who knows. Just follow and summarise their actions over the past period to get the full picture.

In that situation, if they claim they are doing the right thing, why would they need to restore the account? They could also specify who gave them the instructions instead of making general statements. This alone is enough to discard everything they have always claimed.

?Email is not secure? and will never be secure due to its design, regardless of whether someone claims e2ee or uses PGP?overall, it remains insecure.

Please look at the facts.

20 Sep 2025, 04:20 PM	#12
dojyx Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2024 Posts: 140	Why would they see that if they claim to use E2EE? I instantly left Proton when I registered ProtonMail addresses for recovery emails and received a warning to use their service for bulk signups. Most users will receive numerous warning emails from gg while signing in using a new browser, device, or changing their information or password. Fortunately for me, I completed all of these things at the same time, resulting in numerous emails to my recovery account. It was a prudent decision to leave it promptly before using it for future accounts.

15 Sep 2025, 07:29 PM	#2
evfrson Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: London Posts: 184	As far as I can see they didn't violate any terms of service and were just scared of having their service destroyed by North Korea. I've always had a low opinion of Proton. I think their service sucks and this article only reinforces that view. They are a disgrace.

15 Sep 2025, 11:16 PM	#4
TenFour The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 2,297	It is always hard to form an opinion without knowing all the facts, which may never happen.

16 Sep 2025, 04:08 AM	#5
Bamb0 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 2,370	I guess we cant blame them for trying to protect thier own network and all......

19 Sep 2025, 02:53 PM	#7
Bamb0 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 2,370	Wow Im sorry you went thru that..... I dont think it was done on purpose.......

20 Sep 2025, 12:48 PM	#10
Bamb0 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 2,370	No I def understand!!!

20 Sep 2025, 02:39 PM	#11
chrisretusn Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Philippines Posts: 959	I don't have a Proton account so no skin in the game. Both accounts have been restored. This would not stop me for going with Proton in the future. After reading the article and the links in that article. I'd say that this reditt post sums it up.

6 Oct 2025, 02:18 PM	#15
dojyx Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2024 Posts: 140	Personally, I see them as a honey pot for those who want to avoid big tech, specifically Google. They could also be subsidiaries of Google or ABC, who knows. Just follow and summarise their actions over the past period to get the full picture. In that situation, if they claim they are doing the right thing, why would they need to restore the account? They could also specify who gave them the instructions instead of making general statements. This alone is enough to discard everything they have always claimed. ?Email is not secure? and will never be secure due to its design, regardless of whether someone claims e2ee or uses PGP?overall, it remains insecure. Please look at the facts.