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I'm not sure there is a legal mechanism to force ProtonMail to add a backdoor... > "Nearly every country in the world has laws governing lawful interception of

I'm not sure there is a legal mechanism to force ProtonMail to add a backdoor... > "Nearly every country in the world has laws governing lawful interception of electronic communications. In Switzerland, these regulations are set out in the Swiss Federal Act on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (SPTT) last revised in 2012. In the SPTT, the obligation to provide the technical means for lawful interception is imposed only on Internet access providers, so ProtonMail, as a mere Internet application provider, is completely exempt from the SPTT’s scope of application. This means that under Swiss law, ProtonMail cannot be compelled to backdoor our secure email system." https://protonmail.com/blog/switzerland/ https://protonmail.com/blog/switzerland/

heisenbit 9y ago
Not all governments restrict themselves to legal means. Turkey for example has recently started abusing Interpol search warrants to go after people outside their jurisdiction. The country of citizenship is usually clued in and is resisting but dare to go on vacation in a another country. Not all actions of the US government have survived legal review and some may argue the latest administration is more prone to such accidents.
- kazen44 9y ago
  But then it becomes more a question of politics instead of (inter)national law. Heck, the EU and US are already not on good terms on the subject of privacy/intelligence gathering, so i doubt this would be done so easily. Especially with the current US administration.
pmoriarty 9y ago
IANAL, but that just seems to say that under that particular law (SPTT), Internet access providers have to provide the technical means for lawful interception. It does not say that no other entity has to provide the technical means for lawful interception. In other words, the law does not say that ProtonMail is exempt for having to provide lawful interception. They might still have to do so, based on some other law. Further, it's quite conceivable that unlawful means (such as blackmail, threats, or bribery) could be used to coerce ProtonMail. That's not to mention perfectly lawful means of enticing them -- like appealing to their patriotism, willingness to help in a critical investigation, or demonstrating some credible threat.

heisenbit 9y ago

Not all governments restrict themselves to legal means. Turkey for example has recently started abusing Interpol search warrants to go after people outside their jurisdiction. The country of citizenship is usually clued in and is resisting but dare to go on vacation in a another country. Not all actions of the US government have survived legal review and some may argue the latest administration is more prone to such accidents.

kazen44 9y ago
But then it becomes more a question of politics instead of (inter)national law. Heck, the EU and US are already not on good terms on the subject of privacy/intelligence gathering, so i doubt this would be done so easily. Especially with the current US administration.

pmoriarty 9y ago

IANAL, but that just seems to say that under that particular law (SPTT), Internet access providers have to provide the technical means for lawful interception. It does not say that no other entity has to provide the technical means for lawful interception. In other words, the law does not say that ProtonMail is exempt for having to provide lawful interception. They might still have to do so, based on some other law. Further, it's quite conceivable that unlawful means (such as blackmail, threats, or bribery) could be used to coerce ProtonMail. That's not to mention perfectly lawful means of enticing them -- like appealing to their patriotism, willingness to help in a critical investigation, or demonstrating some credible threat.