It published a blog titled Important clarifications regarding arrest of climate activist on September 6, 2021, commenting, “We are also deeply concerned about this case and deplore that the legal tools for serious crimes are being used in this way.” It should be stressed that ProtonMail cannot deliver the content of its end-to-end encryption – this is solely about the user’s IP address. Since the request ticked all the necessary requirements under Swiss law, ProtonMail had no option but to obey. Switzerland acquiesced with Europol, and required ProtonMail to deliver up the IP address. Instead, it approached Switzerland via Europol. Since Switzerland is not part of the EU, the French police could not demand that the Swiss authorities obtain and hand over the IP address of the email user. According to police reports, the climate group had hardened its interests along general anti-capitalist lines, and were taking part in illegal squatting and damage to property.

But simply blaming ProtonMail misses the important lessons of this case.įrench authorities were aware that a group ‘of interest’ (the Youth for Climate collective and associated groups) used the email address. ProtonMail, a privacy and security-focused email provider based in Switzerland, has been strongly criticized for providing the IP address of a customer to Swiss authorities, ultimately leading to the arrest of a climate activist in France. Blaming ProtonMail misses important lessons of the case, as request from authorities ticked the necessary requirements under Swiss law

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