this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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Proton CEO Andy Yen gave a surprisingly sharp interview to the Swiss magazine "watson" (source in German: https://www.watson.ch/digital/wirtschaft/517198902-proton-schweiz-chef-andy-yen-zum-ausbau-der-staatlichen-ueberwachung). He warned that Proton might leave Switzerland if new surveillance laws are passed, which aligns with the company’s strong pro-privacy stance. So far, nothing unexpected.

However, Yen’s remarks about Swiss officials - describing them as lifelong bureaucrats, all lazy, and incompetent - came across as arrogant and out of place, almost like something you’d expect from a capitalism praising Trump supporter. he also was quoted in the interview, that the US works better (so they consider to move there?).

The interview left me speechless, and I’m certain I won’t be considering Proton for any of my future projects

Source

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[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 50 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I read the entire interview, and while it was a browser translation, I didn't get the same sense from it as OP. It reads to me like standard commentary from someone who works in secure services.

The comment about the US was more about the fact that they wouldn't have the same obligations to expose users or implement backdoors as what this regulation is asking, and that's true. The US is still (thankfully) supportive of E2EE services. How long that lasts is unknown, but it is still nonetheless true right now.

And calling the politicians lazy bureaucrats, etc.? I call Democrats stuff like that all the time.

He's said some other potentially problematic things, depending on how you read them, but this seems pretty innocuous and in line with what I'd expect from someone in his position.

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[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 16 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I'll never understand the hate boner people on the internet have for this guy.

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[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm using Proton and considering divesting. What are good alternatives without US ties?

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don't think there's any all-in-one services like Proton. !PurchaseWithPurpose@lemmy.world has a few suggestions, https://european-alternatives.eu/ has others. You'll likely have to piecemeal things if you had the full Proton suite.

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm only using the email though so it is not a hard transition.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 9 points 1 week ago

Then Tuta or Mailbox.org are often recommended. I use Tuta + Addy.io to give me a bunch of aliases, though if you pay for one of the mail services, they both give you a number of aliases, too.

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[–] Beryl@jlai.lu 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Such a shame to see what seemed like a great alternative to Gmail under such management.

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