Proton AG

Who owns Proton AG?
Since June 2024, the controlling shareholder of Proton AG has been the non-profit Proton Foundation. The Foundation was established to ensure Proton maintains its privacy-focused mission over the long term. Andy Yen serves as CEO. Proton AG is not publicly traded.

Is Proton Mail truly private?
Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption, meaning that Proton itself cannot read the content of users' emails. However, Proton can be compelled by Swiss courts to provide metadata (such as IP addresses) for specific accounts. Proton does not log IP addresses by default but can be ordered to begin logging for specific accounts. Users seeking maximum anonymity should use Proton via Tor.

When was Proton AG founded?
Proton AG was founded in 2014 by Andy Yen, Jason Stockman, and Wei Sun while they were researchers at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

What services does Proton offer?
Proton offers Proton Mail (encrypted email), Proton VPN (secure VPN), Proton Drive (encrypted cloud storage), Proton Calendar (encrypted calendar), Proton Pass (password manager), and SimpleLogin (email aliasing).

Is Proton AG publicly traded?
No, Proton AG is privately held and controlled by the non-profit Proton Foundation. The company is not publicly traded.

Proton AG was founded in 2014 by Andy Yen, Jason Stockman, and Wei Sun, who were researchers at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland. The founders were motivated by concerns about internet surveillance and privacy, particularly following the 2013 revelations by Edward Snowden about NSA mass surveillance programs.

The company launched Proton Mail in public beta in May 2014, receiving overwhelming demand that temporarily required signup restrictions. In summer 2014, Proton conducted a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, raising $550,377 from 10,576 donors, demonstrating strong public interest in privacy-focused email.

Proton Mail officially launched out of beta in March 2016. The service uses end-to-end encryption, meaning that even Proton itself cannot read users' emails. The servers are located in Switzerland, protected by Swiss privacy laws, which are among the strongest in the world.

Proton expanded its service portfolio with Proton VPN in 2017, providing a secure virtual private network service with a strict no-logs policy. Unlike many VPN providers, Proton VPN's no-logs policy has been independently audited.

Proton launched Proton Calendar in 2020 and Proton Drive (encrypted cloud storage) in 2022, expanding its privacy suite beyond email and VPN. The company also launched Proton Pass, a password manager, in 2023.

In 2022, Proton rebranded from "ProtonMail" to "Proton" to reflect its expanded portfolio of privacy services beyond email.

Proton acquired SimpleLogin, an email aliasing service, in 2022. SimpleLogin allows users to create email aliases that forward to their real email address, protecting their primary email address from spam and data breaches.

In June 2024, Proton established the Proton Foundation as the controlling shareholder of Proton AG. The Foundation is a non-profit entity whose purpose is to ensure that Proton maintains its privacy-focused mission over the long term, preventing the company from being acquired by a larger company that might compromise user privacy.

Proton has grown to more than 100 million registered users globally, making it one of the world's largest providers of privacy-focused digital services.

Proton has faced scrutiny regarding its response to law enforcement requests. In 2021, Proton Mail provided IP address data to Swiss authorities in response to a legally binding Swiss court order, which was then shared with French authorities. This incident generated significant controversy among privacy advocates, who argued that Proton had misled users about its ability to protect their anonymity. Proton clarified that it does not log IP addresses by default but can be compelled by Swiss courts to begin logging for specific accounts.

The incident highlighted the limitations of privacy services operating within legal jurisdictions: even with strong privacy protections, companies can be compelled by courts to provide certain data.