Proton is transitioning towards a non-profit structure | Proton
proton.me
To ensure our mission always comes first, Proton is transitioning to a non-profit structure and formalizing our promise of people before profits.
  • Emoba@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    1235·
    5 months ago

    I really thought this was about the DirectX compatibility layer for Linux and was hopelessly lost until a dozen sentences in.

  • Vent@lemm.eeEnglish
    689·
    5 months ago

    So they’re adopting a similar structure to OpenAI, a for-profit company majority controlled by a non-profit organization.

    • Jimbabwe@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1291·
      5 months ago

      Similar structure, yes, but this is the important part:

      Swiss foundations and their board of trustees are legally obligated to act in accordance with the purpose for which they were established

      So, just like the Louvre museum in Paris and the Luxor casino in Las Vegas have similar structures, pointing this out doesn’t really contribute much to the discussion.

      For all I know, OpenAI’s purpose is to create Skynet and kill all humans. But Proton’s is:

      Our legally binding purpose is to further the advancement of privacy, freedom, and democracy around the world.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        351·
        5 months ago

        And this might actually get me to use Proton. I’m currently with Tuta, and the experience there is… just okay. I went with them because they claim to have even less access to my stuff vs Proton, and Proton being private didn’t get me to trust them enough to use them instead (I’ve used them in the past though). But this structural change might convince me that they’re trustworthy enough to switch to.

        We’ll see how it turns out. I’m still giving Tuta a shot because I like the idea of not bundling everything together, but once I get my NextCloud setup working, I’ll decide how much of Proton I’ll actually need, compare prices, etc.

        • asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.worldEnglish
          31·
          5 months ago

          How is it possible to have less data on your than Proton? I’m not aware of anything Proton has which isn’t fundamentally required.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            8·
            5 months ago

            Proton stores email subject lines unencrypted to facilitate search, Tuta does search client-side so everything can be completely encrypted. Both have access to unencrypted email when they receive it, so it’s not a huge difference, but given the cost difference, I figured I’d give Tuta a try first.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                1·
                5 months ago

                I don’t think that’s true. They can always do PGP on the client after decrypting the email (so double-encrypt). It’s also not particularly interesting because almost nobody uses PGP. It’s a design decision that I’m not a big fan of, but if they’re legally obligated to maintain my privacy, maybe I’m okay with it. I’ll give it some time and see how that pans out.

                • AProfessional@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  5 months ago

                  OpenPGP is actively supported by dozens of clients, they cannot and do not encrypt subjects, so Proton chose to be compatible with that. I think dismissing cross-compatibility because of a hand wave “nobody uses it” isn’t very productive either.

  • kitnaht@lemmy.worldEnglish
    186·
    5 months ago

    Really wish they transitioned to a “Not-for-profit” structure, rather than non-profit. Non-profits can still be profit driven, sadly.

    • Infynis@midwest.socialEnglish
      451·
      5 months ago

      They specifically chose non-profit because it allows them to remain profit driven, and continue to run the company as they have. The non-profit is the main shareholder now, and required by law to act in the interest of its founding principles. They basically did this for PR, because now, working in their customers’ best interests is mandatory, and they are protected against hostile takeovers

      • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
        21·
        5 months ago

        Weren’t they protected before? Afaik their major shareholder was the Swiss government.