Proton Mail may be banned in India soon

The Proton Mail Service was used in sending Bomb Blasting Threats to schools in Tamil Nadu.

The Swiss software giant has received a notice of a “possible block” of Proton Mail Services in India after recent incident of Tamil Nadu. The Proton Mail Service was used in sending Bomb Blasting Threats to schools in Tamil Nadu.

A spokesperson for Proton told to the Indian daily Hindustan Times that the company condemns  the “possible block as a misguided action that only serves to harm ordinary people.”

“Blocking access to Proton is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats. It will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats with another email service and will not be effective if the perpetrators are located outside of India.”

On Thursday, Hindustan Times also reported that the Indian IT Ministry had instructed local internet service providers (ISP) to block Proton Mail following a request from the Tamil Nadu State police. The police indicated that at least 13 private schools in Chennai had received a hoax bomb threat.

On Friday, D Ashok Kumar, a senior officer in Tamil Nadu’s Cyber-Crime wing, told Moneycontrol that he had submitted a request to the IT Ministry to restrict access to Proton Mail.

Ashok Kumar, who also serves as the nodal officer for blocking orders in the state, mentioned that Proton Mail was “least responsive” in providing information about the suspects responsible for the bomb threats.

“We were unable to get IP address, mobile number — other backend information of the email address because it is end-to-end encrypted. We are unable to trace them also,” Kumar stated..

Numerous lawmakers and privacy advocacy groups have voiced apprehensions regarding the potential blocking of Proton Mail in India. Saket Gokhale, a member of India’s upper house Rajya Sabha, shared on X (Twitter), ” Sources and whistleblowers often communicate with reporters using Proton Mail to avoid their identity being disclosed. Privacy is being demolished brick by brick.”

Proton Mail Ban would mark the second significant setback for the Switzerland-based tech giant. In 2022, Proton had to withdraw its VPN servers from India due to a local law mandating virtual private network operators to disclose customer information to authorities in New Delhi.

What do you think about this? What’s your point of view regarding privacy or Proton Mail Ban? Let me know in comments below.

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