ProtonMail voluntarily offers Assistance for Real-Time Surveillance

guest · May 30, 2019

ProtonMail voluntarily offers Assistance for Real-Time Surveillance
May 23, 2019
https://steigerlegal.ch/2019/05/23/protonmail-real-time-surveillance/

Email service provider ProtonMail, based in Switzerland, offers assistance for real-time surveillance: Voluntarily!
This insight goes back to public prosecutor Stephan Walder, who heads the Cybercrime Competence Center in the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland.

On Twitter, ProtonMail repeatedly avoided to address the question why real-time surveillance was carried out voluntarily. Instead, ProtonMail stressed that the contents of the communication could not be monitored due to end-to-end encryption.

Even as a telecommunications service provider with reduced surveillance obligations, ProtonMail would not have to voluntarily offer assistance for real-time monitoring.
Real-Time Surveillance: Transparency by ProtonMail

ProtonMail falsely claims to be exempt from the SPTA, wrongly advertises with „strict Swiss privacy laws“ and trivializes the surveillance state in Switzerland.
[...] Anyone who believes ProtonMail and consoles himself that the email contents are encrypted underestimates the significance of metadata
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Addendum
Public prosecutor Walder of the Competence Center Cybercrime contacted me, saying he had been misquoted.
Addendum 2
Tonight, on 29 May 2019, ProtonMail responded to this article [...]
ProtonMail claims that this article is „factually incorrect“ and states first and foremost that it does not voluntarily offer assistance for real-time surveillance. Apart from that, ProtonMail does not respond to the many points raised in this article.

In a direct email to me, ProtonMail’s legal department confirmed that real-time monitoring could be carried out.
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guest · May 30, 2019

Response to false statements on surveillance made by Martin Steiger
May 29, 2019
https://protonmail.com/blog/martin-steiger-false-statements/

Earlier today, a Swiss lawyer named Martin Steiger published a factually incorrect article about ProtonMail on his blog, alleging, among other things, that “ProtonMail voluntarily offers assistance for real-time surveillance.”

So that there can be no ambiguity: ProtonMail does not voluntarily offer assistance as alleged. We only do so when ordered by a Swiss court or prosecutor, as we are obligated to follow the law in all criminal cases. Furthermore, ProtonMail’s end-to-end encryption means we cannot be forced by a court to provide unencrypted message contents.

Laws are subject to interpretation, and because the relevant Swiss law itself is ambiguous, there are differing interpretations of the law. Steiger’s interpretation is different from the one taken by the Swiss government agency tasked with enforcing the law, whose directives we are legally obligated to comply with. His interpretation, therefore, is just an opinion, and not grounded in legal reality.
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Daveski17 · May 30, 2019

https://steigerlegal.ch/2019/05/23/protonmail-real-time-surveillance/

'ProtonMail was founded by CERN employees in the Canton of Geneva' ~ op cit

All those boffins and it still has bugs lol.

mirimir · May 30, 2019

So that there can be no ambiguity: ProtonMail does not voluntarily offer assistance as alleged. We only do so when ordered by a Swiss court or prosecutor, as we are obligated to follow the law in all criminal cases.
Click to expand...

That's a subtle distinction. I mean, Sigaint wasn't obligated to follow any laws, given that they were anonymous. Until they were found and busted, anyway.

Furthermore, ProtonMail’s end-to-end encryption means we cannot be forced by a court to provide unencrypted message contents.
Click to expand...

Sure, but the US kills people based on metadata, so ...

Palancar · Jun 4, 2019

Sure, but the US kills people based on metadata, so ...
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Reminding casual readers that its quite simple to enter and leave Protonmail without ANY metadata crumbs. PM has a great onion url and for those without TOR at least use a few VPNs. Fundamentally you can get in and out without ever touching clearnet after leaving your computer.

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