Tech Focus: Open A ProtonMail Account

Tech Focus: Open a ProtonMail Account

by Rob Giuffre

In the 1980’s pop star Rockwell had a creepy hit called “Somebody’s Watching Me”.  The lyrics went:

“I’m just an average man
With an average life
I work from nine to five
Hey, hell, I pay the price
All I want is to be left alone
In my average home
But why do I always feel
Like I’m in the twilight zone

And (I always feel like)
(Somebody’s watching me)
And I have no privacy
Whooooa-oh-oh
(I always feel like)
(Somebody’s watching me)
Tell me, is it just a dream”

In terms of the modern internet, Rockwell proved to be a soothsaying prophet.  Have you ever emailed a friend or family member about something harmless?  Say, something about your day? How you were late to work because your toaster burnt out and caused your toast to burst into flames?  Then for weeks after, your Facebook feed and email is littered with toaster advertisements and your Amazon homepage has nothing but sales for toasters?  This is because Google, Yahoo and other major email services have sophisticated software that harvests even your most intimate communication for the purpose of best targeting you with advertisements. If they know about your toaster, what else do they know?

In addition, you might have heard about email server hacks: the Sony and Democratic National Committee hacks being two of the most well-known.  The popular email services are not very difficult for hackers to crack.

So, there are two compelling reasons to get away from the big, mainstream email services: getting away from intrusive advertisements and protecting your sensitive financial data and potentially embarrassing personal communications.

Here’s what you can do about it: open a ProtonMail account.

ProtonMail is an email service that offers built-in end-to-end encryption and hosts all of its servers in Switzerland.  To refresh your memory, Switzerland has the best internet privacy laws in the world.  ProtonMail is so secure, ownership couldn’t access your email even if asked and with permission granted.

The best part? ProtonMail is free.  They provide 500MB of free storage.  500MB is good enough for those who regularly delete unneeded emails.  It is also very easy to have emails sent to your old account forwarded to your new ProtonMail account.  If you were looking for a smart, savvy way to “stick it to the man,” opening a ProtonMail account is a great way to do be a revolutionary…from the comfort of your own home…in your underpants.

Rob Giuffre is a Network+ and A+ certified computer/network technician and sole owner of RatCat Computers. Call 347-538-6231 for a free quote and to schedule a service appointment for any computer or network issue.  We appreciate, respect and value all of our clients.