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I find the use of a ProtonMail address to be interesting. Don't they require the use of an existing email address, phone number, or credit card/PayPal donation
by Forbo 7y ago
I find the use of a ProtonMail address to be interesting. Don't they require the use of an existing email address, phone number, or credit card/PayPal donation to create an account? I just tried creating an account via Tor for test purposes, and it was immediately disabled "for abuse or fraud".
Couldn't this mean that some entity could submit a legal request to ProtonMail for said information in the event of an investigation?
Edit: The site is also hosted on Squarespace. Why not something more anonymous, like an onion service, IPFS, ZeroNet, etc?
- tyingq 7y agoJust created a free account, it didn't ask for anything other than a desired email and password. The recovery email was optional. It does ask for an existing email to verify the account. It accepted my Gmail address.
- Forbo 7y agoSo you can anonymously create a Gmail account? Or is that just the next hop in the subpoena/investigation process? Edit: Just tried creating a Gmail, it required a phone number.
- hyperdimension 7y agoDoes it require a phone number, or just prompt for it? From what I've heard, it always has a field for a phone number, but it sometim es lets you submit without one (based on some sort of not-a-bot trust score, ReCAPTCHA v3 maybe?)
- Forbo 7y agoRequired, couldn't proceed through account creation without it. At least when I tested it just now that was the case.
- pyc0d333 7y agoyou can actually create gmail accounts without phone numbers
- codedokode 7y agoFor me in Russia gmail always requires a phone number. But my ISP is large and maybe someone of its users was sending spam or did something bad.
- RandomBacon 7y agoThere are ways to create Gmail accounts that don't require phone numbers.
- dredmorbius 7y agoNope, re auth/email req. Edit: To my recollection / when I created my account(s).
- Forbo 7y agoWhat combination of steps have you found that don't require revealing some type of real-world identifier? Trying emails from providers that don't require me to give up info seems to result in the account getting immediately banned.
- dredmorbius 7y agoAFAIR I didn't have to provide any alt account. The procedure may have changed. They occasionally do for services.
- albertgoeswoof 7y agoTry a service like https://idbloc.co https://idbloc.co
- Forbo 7y agoI can't seem to find any info on whether they allow prepaid credit cards. If they don't, then we're still stuck with the same issue of requiring real-world identifiers.
- ShorsHammer 7y agoThe neverending ddos's and online fud against protonmail suggests that it irks some state level actors, no individual nor private group has such means or motivation. Make of that what you will.
- RandomBacon 7y agoOr they already have access, but want to keep the ruse up so that people use it. Make of that what you will. Nothing is impossible with the right resources.
- ShorsHammer 7y ago> Nothing is impossible with the right resources. And yet we still can't manage to put a person on Mars despite having the resources to do so for over half a century. Your adversary has a budget too.
- RandomBacon 7y agoThe people who could make it happen didn't have the resources. Your rebuttal is a poor one; of course there are enough resources, but that doesn't mean they are allocated ideally.
- ShorsHammer 7y agoI'll play you in chess any day mate. It's very clear who I am.
- RandomBacon 7y agoI have no idea who you are, and I don't see why that matters. Who you are, doesn't change the words you wrote.
- RandomBacon 7y agoI looked through your comment history very briefly and only a couple of pages. You are active on r/space and use a CB radio in your vehicle. You're probably an interesting/good person to know, but alas I still have no idea who you are. I wish you the best, and I'm sorry if I was too hostile (reading it later, it seems that way, and it wasn't my intention).
- thinkloop 7y agoWhat forces led protonmail to require some form of identification? Are they regulatory?
- zozbot234 7y agoNot wanting to deal with spam and abuse originating from their service, most likely. Similar to most services which "require some form of identification" - and an underappreciated hurdle for any sort of reliable anonymity!