29 Apr
2018
29 Apr
'18
8:22 a.m.
On Saturday 28 April 2018 23:33:39 deloptes wrote:
William Morder wrote:
Thanks, but no money to spend at present.
So far it's the best option for private,
secure email. You'll have to do
some reading about it (and compare with other email services) to know
why. Either you want end-to-end encryption, and other privacy/security
features, or you don't (yet) care that much.
My only other option seems to be to roll my own (that is, host my own
email server on my own machine). I know of several people who do that
(such as Richard Stallman, if I recall), but it's a pain in the behind,
and a lot of work just to host your own email accounts with your own
domain, etc.
I will try to make some enquiries about what is involved, if anybody else
really wants to know. So far, I've just been doing a lot of reading, and
it seems a little too much trouble. In lieu of that kind of hassle, then,
there is ProtonMail.
You are welcome to use the hosting service of a friend or so. If you don't
have such, we have one here, just let me know. I pay for 5 domains 140/y. What I do not understand in the whole picture is how
you get "encryption
end to end" - it means the other end must also be encrypted. So what is the
difference between this ProtonMail and using normal GnuPG.
I think the problem here (and in another email you answer to somebody else,
dep, I think) is the conflation of two ideas: 1. end-to-end encryption (which
you're right, Kmail offers, but you have to do some work yourself, whereas
Proton is encrypted by default); and 2. a secure email service where all
emails are encrypted, and content or contact information cannot be read even
by the admins. And it is much better to download emails to my own computer,
rather than to leave them on the server where they could be read by who
knows?
Gmail, for example, can be used with Kmail, and properly encrypted; but if any
emails are left on the server, all data is gathered and reused by Google, as
I have discovered myself due to some targeted ads - which were obviously
related to recent emails that I had received.
Our querent here, dep, as a journalist, would like to keep his sources and
contacts confidential. And while I am not a journalist as such, I am engaged
in research and writing (mostly history, anthropology, etc.), which, in the
wrong hands, might be twisted and misused to make my work appear to be
something it is not.
Lavabit used to offer a similar service, and got shut down. ProtonMail,
because they are located in Switzerland, promise (or hope) not to succumb to
pressure to snoop on users, or to create backdoors, etc.
I have no clue if they are as good as they promise, but my mode of operation
is first to do a little research, then usually to try them out, and find out
by experience. Until I get a 32-bit bridge package and a free account,
ProtonMail is out for me, but I'll be watching what others have to say.
Someday, we can only hope, secure, private emails will be the norm, rather
than the exceptions.
Bill