4 ms·

ProtonMail is building a blockchain feature for email validation

9 points by maoro 3y ago

platelminto 3y ago
I’m confused by this article - I thought ProtonMail already did public key encryption on people’s emails? And where does blockchain fit into this?
- gumballindie 3y ago
  > And where does blockchain fit into this? It’s got electrolytes. Just like ai. Is what we crave. On a serious note this article makes no sense, nor the “feature”.
  - kinduff 3y ago
    I'm pretty sure it was generated using GPT or similar. It is worded as a summary of an article and GPT checkers report that it was likely generated.
    - codetrotter 3y ago
      > GPT checkers report that it was likely generated. I agree it looks GPT generated. However, I would not use an online “GPT checker” as I don’t trust them to be actually reliable at all.
- freeAgent 3y ago
  This is the source, and a much better article: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-key-transparency-blockchain/ https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-ke...
- kinduff 3y ago
  Found the source [0], I guess the article author made a summary or similar. It was cross-posted to Slashdot too [1] automatically based on the time. [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20231116120902/https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-key-transparency-blockchain/ https://web.archive.org/web/20231116120902/https://fortune.c... [1]: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/11/16/141213/proton-mail-ceo-calls-new-address-verification-feature-blockchain-in-a-very-pure-form https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/11/16/141213/proton-mail-...
scary-size 3y ago
What? Did a bot write this? This title and article make no sense at all. That's just public-key crypto, no blockchain involved.
- isilofi 3y ago
  "Blockchain" is one of the current buzzwords that has to be slapped on everything. Not long before they do a v2 with "AI".
  - nephanth 3y ago
    Is it still though? I thought that had died out after all the bitcoin fiascos
    - isilofi 3y ago
      In technical circles, yes. But those things trickle down over time, through the media, marketing drones, bureaucrats and politicians even sometimes down to the rest of the population. So when things are already dead with our kind, e.g. the politicians or the news might still be full into "blockchain something something".
Belphemur 3y ago
I have a hard time understanding the link between the feature of a key server and block chain. This is a great idea to simplify PGP, love it, but nothing to do with block chain at all. Basically a public key server where all recipients have their public key available to send email too and have proton mail use it automatically.
codetrotter 3y ago
This doesn’t explain how the blockchain relates to the goal of sending email. I was expecting it to mention Hashcash which was invented by Adam Back in 1997 as a way to prevent email spam. Hashcash was a big inspiration for “Satoshi Nakamoto” when he built Bitcoin. The article also does not explain how the private keys of the users relate to this. Will the PGP public keys of the users be stored on their blockchain? Will the encrypted mails be stored on their blockchain? Both? Neither? What else?
- freeAgent 3y ago
  It’s all about encrypted email messages. They’re talking about using a blockchain as a universal public key directory. I assume PM is doing this internally already since they already know the public keys on their own hosted accounts, but that’s not the case when PM exchanges email outside their own service/domain. A big challenge I don’t see addresses or discussed in the article is how blocks would be created and added to the chain if it’s going to be made public (and therefore useful outside of PM’s internal systems/email).
mbreese 3y ago
Keeping a common ledger that contains potentially untrusted data is one of the few use cases I can see where a block chain made sense. Way back in the day (and maybe still, I’m not sure) didn’t MIT run a PGP key database? The only problem I had with it was that I didn’t have an expiration date on an old key so it hung around forever.
stefan_ 3y ago
Last time around people get very angry when they realized Gmail DKIM/DMARC signatures were authenticating emails they would have rather not made public as real.
EPWN3D 3y ago
A PKI is not a blockchain.

9 points by maoro 3y ago

I’m confused by this article - I thought ProtonMail already did public key encryption on people’s emails? And where does blockchain fit into this?

gumballindie 3y ago
> And where does blockchain fit into this? It’s got electrolytes. Just like ai. Is what we crave. On a serious note this article makes no sense, nor the “feature”.
- kinduff 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure it was generated using GPT or similar. It is worded as a summary of an article and GPT checkers report that it was likely generated.
  - codetrotter 3y ago
    > GPT checkers report that it was likely generated. I agree it looks GPT generated. However, I would not use an online “GPT checker” as I don’t trust them to be actually reliable at all.
freeAgent 3y ago
This is the source, and a much better article: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-key-transparency-blockchain/ https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-ke...
kinduff 3y ago
Found the source [0], I guess the article author made a summary or similar. It was cross-posted to Slashdot too [1] automatically based on the time. [0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20231116120902/https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/11/16/privacy-proton-mail-key-transparency-blockchain/ https://web.archive.org/web/20231116120902/https://fortune.c... [1]: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/11/16/141213/proton-mail-ceo-calls-new-address-verification-feature-blockchain-in-a-very-pure-form https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/11/16/141213/proton-mail-...

scary-size 3y ago

What? Did a bot write this? This title and article make no sense at all. That's just public-key crypto, no blockchain involved.

isilofi 3y ago
"Blockchain" is one of the current buzzwords that has to be slapped on everything. Not long before they do a v2 with "AI".
- nephanth 3y ago
  Is it still though? I thought that had died out after all the bitcoin fiascos
  - isilofi 3y ago
    In technical circles, yes. But those things trickle down over time, through the media, marketing drones, bureaucrats and politicians even sometimes down to the rest of the population. So when things are already dead with our kind, e.g. the politicians or the news might still be full into "blockchain something something".

Belphemur 3y ago

I have a hard time understanding the link between the feature of a key server and block chain. This is a great idea to simplify PGP, love it, but nothing to do with block chain at all. Basically a public key server where all recipients have their public key available to send email too and have proton mail use it automatically.

codetrotter 3y ago

This doesn’t explain how the blockchain relates to the goal of sending email. I was expecting it to mention Hashcash which was invented by Adam Back in 1997 as a way to prevent email spam. Hashcash was a big inspiration for “Satoshi Nakamoto” when he built Bitcoin. The article also does not explain how the private keys of the users relate to this. Will the PGP public keys of the users be stored on their blockchain? Will the encrypted mails be stored on their blockchain? Both? Neither? What else?

freeAgent 3y ago
It’s all about encrypted email messages. They’re talking about using a blockchain as a universal public key directory. I assume PM is doing this internally already since they already know the public keys on their own hosted accounts, but that’s not the case when PM exchanges email outside their own service/domain. A big challenge I don’t see addresses or discussed in the article is how blocks would be created and added to the chain if it’s going to be made public (and therefore useful outside of PM’s internal systems/email).

mbreese 3y ago

Keeping a common ledger that contains potentially untrusted data is one of the few use cases I can see where a block chain made sense. Way back in the day (and maybe still, I’m not sure) didn’t MIT run a PGP key database? The only problem I had with it was that I didn’t have an expiration date on an old key so it hung around forever.

stefan_ 3y ago

Last time around people get very angry when they realized Gmail DKIM/DMARC signatures were authenticating emails they would have rather not made public as real.

EPWN3D 3y ago

A PKI is not a blockchain.