all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited ist eine All-in-One-Datenschutzlösung"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Keine Werbung. Privatsphäre als Standard."],"People before profits":["Menschen sind uns wichtiger als Gewinne"],"Security through transparency":["Sicherheit durch Transparenz"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["Die besten Proton Mail-Angebote zum ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["Der weltweit einzige von der Community unterstützte E-Mail-Dienst"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } Stunde","${ hours } Stunden"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nur noch ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } und ${ secondsLeft }"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } Minute","${ minutes } Minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } Sekunde","${ seconds } Sekunden"],"Limited time offer":["Zeitlich befristetes Angebot"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Erstelle mehrere Adressen"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-Aliase"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Newsletter schnell abbestellen"],"Use your own domain name":["Verwende deine eigene Domain"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Vorgestellt in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Nutze einen verschlüsselte E-Mail-Dienst, der deine Privatsphäre schützt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday-Angebot – Bis zu 40 % Rabatt"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Erhalte an diesem Black Friday bis zu 40 % Rabatt auf Proton Mail-Abonnements. Mache tolle Schnäppchen bei unseren sicheren, Ende-zu-Ende-verschlüsselten E-Mail-Abonnements."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail-Black-Friday-Angebot | Bis zu 40 % Rabatt auf sichere E-Mails"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["* Zum Preis von ${ TOTAL_SUM } im ersten Jahr"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*Zum Preis von ${ TOTAL_SUM } in den ersten zwei Jahren"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30-tägige Geld-zurück-Garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["Zum Preis von ${ TOTAL_SUM } in den ersten zwei Jahren"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["Zum Preis von ${ TOTAL_SUM } im ersten Jahr"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["Du sparst ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ DISCOUNT } off":["− ${ DISCOUNT }"],"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["− ${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ich liebe mein ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mein Lieblings-E-Mail-Dienst"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Danke Proton, dass du uns alle im komplizierten Internet-Universum beschützt."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Du bekommst, wofür du bezahlst. Wenn du nichts bezahlst, wirst du bei der Nutzung von Big Tech ausgenutzt. Ich habe Gmail aufgegeben und bin zu @ProtonMail gewechselt"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Tage"],"Hours":["Stunden"],"Min":["Min."]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["Und vieles mehr"],"Make your inbox yours":["Übernimm volle Kontrolle über deinen Posteingang"],"Safe from trackers":["Sicher vor Trackern"],"Stay organized":["Sorge für Ordnung"],"Black Friday email deals":["E-Mail-Angebote zum Black Friday"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["Verlasse dich nicht nur auf unser Wort"],"Our story":["Unsere Geschichte"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Übertrage deine Daten von Google mit einem Klick"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Greife auf blockierte Inhalte zu und surfe privat. Umfasst ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } Server in über ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } Ländern, die Verbindung \nvon bis zu 10 Geräten, weltweite Streaming-Dienste, Malware- und Werbeblocker und mehr."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Teile deinen Kalender ganz einfach mit Verwandten, Freunden oder Kollegen und rufe externe Kalender auf."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Beinhaltet Unterstützung für eine eigene E-Mail-Domain, 10 E-Mail-Adressen, 10 „hide-my-email“-Aliasse, Kalenderfreigabe und mehr."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Beinhaltet Unterstützung für 3 benutzerdefinierte E-Mail-Domänen, 15 E-Mail-Adressen, unbegrenzte „hide-my-email“-Aliase, Kalenderfreigabe und mehr."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Verwalte bis zu 25 Kalender, Ende zu Ende verschlüsselte mobile Apps, 1-Klick-Kalenderimporte von Google und vieles mehr."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Im Moment gibt es Probleme mit dem Proton VPN-Dienst"],"Learn more":["Mehr erfahren"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Mehr erfahren"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["Bitte beachte, dass wir im Moment Probleme mit dem Dienst ${ issues[0] } haben."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["Im Moment gibt es Probleme mit einem oder mehreren Diensten."]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Vorschläge"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Unterkategorie","Unterkategorien"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } Min.","${ readingTime } Min."],"Category":["Kategorie","Kategorien"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Hast du nicht gefunden, wonach du gesucht hast?"],"General contact":["Allgemeiner Kontakt"],"Get help":["Hilfe erhalten"],"Legal contact":["Kontakt für Rechtliches"],"Media contact":["Kontakt für Medien"],"Partnerships contact":["Kontakt für Partnerschaften"],"Reading":["Lesen"]},"Support categories":{"Browse Proton product support":["Produkt-Support von Proton durchsuchen"]},"Support category":{"There is no article in this category yet.":["In dieser Kategorie gibt es noch keinen Artikel."]},"Support troubleshooting":{"--- Select ---":["--- Auswählen ---"],"App version":["App-Version"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Schau, ob das hilft."],"Choose a category for your question":["Wähle eine Kategorie für deine Frage aus."],"Choose a product":["Produkt auswählen"],"Did this solve your issue ?":["Hat dies dein Problem gelöst?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away — please make your selections":["Schnellere Hilfe ist nur ein paar Klicks entfernt. Bitte triff deine Auswahl"],"No, contact support":["Nein, Support kontaktieren"],"Proton account":["Proton-Konto"],"Proton Bridge":["Proton Bridge"],"Proton Calendar":["Proton Calendar"],"Proton Drive":["Proton Drive"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Proton Mail":["Proton Mail"],"Proton Pass":["Proton Pass"],"Proton VPN":["Proton VPN"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Danke für dein Feedback"],"Troubleshooting":["Fehlerbehebung"],"What can we help with ?":["Wie können wir dir helfen?"],"Yes":["Ja"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Anfrage suchen"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Suchen"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Ich suche"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Damit das Problem schneller gelöst werden kann, melde es bitte über die Bridge-App: Help > Report a problem (Hilfe > Problem melden)."],"Information":["Informationen"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Kontosicherheit"],"Contacts":["Kontakte"],"Custom email domain":["Benutzerdefinierte E-Mail-Domain"],"Email delivery and Spam":["E-Mail-Zustellung und Spam"],"Encryption":["Verschlüsselung"],"Login and password":["Anmeldung und Passwort"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Zusammenführung von Aliassen und Konten"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migration zu Proton"],"Notifications":["Benachrichtigungen"],"Other":["Sonstiges"],"Plans and billing":["Abonnements und Abrechnung"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Registrierung"],"Storage":["Speicher"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Benutzer, Adressen und Identitäten"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Thema auswählen"]},"swiss_baseed_feature":{"Swiss based":["In der Schweiz ansässig"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Auszeichnungen"],"Customers":["Kunden"],"Featured":["Empfohlen"],"Go to testimonial source":["Zur Referenzquelle wechseln"],"Reviews":["Bewertungen"],"Videos":["Videos"]},"Text":{"Find the plan that's right for you":["Finde das passende Abonnement"],"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Hilfe erhältst du in unserem ${ supportLink }."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["Die von dir gesuchte Seite wurde möglicherweise entfernt, oder es könnte sich um einen alten Link handeln."]},"Title":{"On this page":["Auf dieser Seite"],"Related articles":["Verwandte Artikel"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["${ thisPage } teilen"],"Thank you!":["Vielen Dank!"],"this page":["diese Seite"]},"Tooltip":{"More information":["Weitere Informationen"]},"tooltip_calendar":{"Create up to 20 custom & shareable encrypted calendars. On top of that, add up to 5 calendars from friends, family, colleagues, and organizations.":["Erstelle bis zu 20 benutzerdefinierte und teilbare verschlüsselte Kalender. Darüber hinaus kannst du bis zu 5 Kalender von Freunden, Familie, Kollegen und Organisationen hinzufügen."]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Greife auf blockierte Inhalte zu und surfe privat. Enthält über ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } Server in mehr als ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } Ländern, höchste VPN-Geschwindigkeiten, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN-Verbindungen, weltweite Streaming-Dienste, Malware- und Werbeblocker und mehr."],"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, 10 VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Greife auf blockierte Inhalte zu und surfe privat. Enthält über ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } Server in mehr als ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } Ländern, höchste VPN-Geschwindigkeiten, 10 VPN-Verbindungen, weltweite Streaming-Dienste, Malware- und Werbeblocker und mehr."]},"version_history_label":{"Version history":["Versionsverlauf"]},"version_history_tooltip":{"Store up to ${ versionHistoryNumber } versions of each file for up to ${ years } years":["Speichere bis zu ${ versionHistoryNumber } Versionen jeder Datei für einen Zeitraum von bis zu ${ years } Jahren"]},"vpn_features_link":{"View VPN plans":["VPN-Abonnements anzeigen"]},"vpn_features_useCase":{"Access blocked content and browse privately":["Greife auf blockierte Inhalte zu und surfe privat"]}}},"unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api"};
// We need to import data (the framework context) from the server
// This Astro feature with define:vars works well but creates an inline script
// So we can't directly import the initFramework helper, we have to store the context
window.frameworkContext = frameworkContext;
})();
2021 in review: An update from the Proton Engineering team | Proton
At Proton, our community is incredibly important to us. We exist only through your support, and we are here to serve you. As part of our commitment to you, we closely read the feedback you share with us directly and on social media platforms. We take your suggestions to heart and try our best to meet your needs.
In reading through your feedback, we recognize that while 2021 was a busy year for us from an engineering and product perspective, we did not fully meet the expectations of many of you in the community. We, too, are disappointed by the slow pace of development of existing and new Proton products, and for that, we apologize.
One of Proton’s core values is transparency. In this inaugural community engineering update, we want to provide some perspective on why we could not deliver on all commitments in 2021, what we are changing to improve this going forward, and what you can expect from us in 2022.
The challenge of building encrypted products
The twin pillars of Proton product design are security and usability. It is difficult to build a secure product, and it is difficult to build an easy-to-use product. Meanwhile, doing both simultaneously is very challenging, particularly when dealing with end-to-end encryption.
Software engineering today, including at Proton, largely embraces “agile” development practices, which, at the risk of gross oversimplification, encourages rapid iteration rather than detailed in-advance planning (“waterfall”). The exception to this rule at Proton is designing the cryptosystems used in our products. Encryption is not simply a layer that we can add on top of an unencrypted product. Once a piece of data is encrypted, it is extraordinarily difficult (if not impossible) to change its format or restructure it to accommodate new features because we’re unable to read or modify the encrypted data.
The consequence of this is that things must be done “correctly” the first time around. There’s no real possibility to iterate and improve later, as future improvements may not be possible if the cryptographic architecture is incorrect. This sets a much higher bar for the care and attention that must go into the planning stages of our products and features, which simply takes more time.
Encryption also adds complexity in other ways. Our commitment to encrypting as much data as is practical and using digital signatures everywhere to verify data authenticity means we can rarely choose the simplest path or use pre-existing solutions. Many off-the-shelf libraries do not work because of our encryption of data (and metadata in some cases).
A good example of this is our encrypted message content search feature(new window), which we recently released on our web app to everyone with a paid Proton Mail(new window) plan. Many great open-source search libraries exist, but they are all server-side software, which does not work for Proton Mail because our end-to-end encryption means that Proton servers do not have access to your messages. Thus, to introduce a full message content search, we had to build a custom solution that runs entirely on your device, has good performance, and scales well to large inboxes. As you might imagine, this took far more development time and effort than using an off-the-shelf library or service.
Overcoming technical debt
While we deal with some unique challenges at Proton, we also have to grapple with garden-variety software engineering challenges, including one of which will be familiar to any developer: technical debt.
Technical debt is a term used in the software industry to refer to the cumulative cost of the rework needed to address suboptimal technical choices made in the past. Technical debt, if left unaddressed, accumulates “interest”, which makes it progressively more difficult to build new features. An application with too much technical debt can also become more bug-prone if features are added without addressing the debt.
There is some nuance around the word “suboptimal” in the above definition. Suboptimal decisions can be made which are known to be suboptimal at the time but are still made because the trade-off is deemed worth the cost. In our case, we focused on speed and features during much of Proton Mail’s early development because early-stage startups do not have the luxury of time — this incurred technical debt, particularly on our mobile applications, which has required tremendous effort to rebuild.
In 2021, we launched a new version of the Proton Mail web app that is much more modern, easy-to-use, and reliable. We rewrote this new web app from the ground up, which allowed us to retire a great deal of technical debt. This is already paying dividends, leading to the faster release of new features on our web app in 2021, and we will further accelerate the development of new features in 2022.
The Proton Mail mobile apps are the subject of frequent complaints from the community, and they are due for a refresh. Unfortunately, we will also need to rewrite these apps to retire their technical debt. This is a highly complex project, and despite our best efforts, we could not complete it in 2021 (the new iOS and Android apps are now in public beta, but the general release will come later in 2022). However, once we release the new version of the mobile apps to all users, we will accelerate development as we have done with the web app.
What happens with Proton Mail also has consequences for Proton Calendar(new window) and Proton Drive(new window). We are working with finite resources, which means we must prioritize. The Proton community has consistently favored prioritizing Mail development, so when we must make trade-offs, we prioritize Mail over Calendar and Drive. VPN has much less interdependence, so such trade-offs are less necessary.
What’s next
This past year, we focused on laying down a foundation upon which we can build an internet where privacy is the default. While this work is never complete (as any engineer will tell you), we have made tremendous progress. Key architectural decisions have been finalized, shared components developed, and we will soon be able to retire the old mobile apps and move to a new framework that allows faster development. The work done in 2021 was essential, but unfortunately, it mostly happened behind the scenes, and in many cases, did not lead to immediately noticeable benefits for the community. However, in 2022 this will change as we build upon the new foundation that we have laid.
It’s difficult to cover all we have planned in a single blog post, so we will follow up with more details in subsequent posts, but below are some of the highlights from the current 2022 roadmap.
The first half of 2022
A new iOS app for Proton Mail (the app is currently undergoing public beta testing(new window), and we’re implementing community feedback)
A new Proton website and visual updates across all our products
The general release of the ProtonDrive web app (the beta is currently limited to people with a paid Proton Mail plan)
A public beta for Proton Mail for desktop (this is a proof of concept to test interest in a Proton Mail desktop app)
The general release of the Proton Calendar iOS app (the app is currently in limited public beta)
The general release of Proton Drive Windows, Android, and iOS apps
The general release of Proton Mail Bridge “v3”. The current Bridge release is “v1”, and a redesigned “v2” with many performance and sync improvements is currently in public beta. An even better “v3” which will resolve all outstanding performance and sync issues is coming in 2022.
The Proton Mail Android app is noticeably missing from the list above. The new Android app is in public beta testing right now, but due to issues with technical debt, we believe the app requires more work under the hood to unlock more future development velocity. We will provide more details on the release plan for the updated Android app in the coming months, but if you want to start testing it, you can join our public beta program for Android(new window).
In closing, we would like to thank you again for your patience and understanding. It is not always easy reading the comments asking us to move faster, but we are nevertheless grateful to receive them because it means what we are doing matters. Our first priority is always to serve you, and we will always endeavor to explain the situation to the community as transparently as possible. Thank you again for your support and for giving us the chance to serve you better.
Secure, seamless communication is the foundation of every business. As more
organizations secure their data with Proton, we’ve dramatically expanded our
ecosystem with new products and services, from our password manager to Dark Web
Monitoring for cr
On the subject of cybersecurity, one term that often comes up is brute force
attack. A brute force attack is any attack that doesn’t rely on finesse, but
instead uses raw computing power to crack security or even the underlying
encryption.
In this a
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has become notorious as
the legal justification allowing federal agencies like the NSA, CIA, and FBI to
perform warrantless wiretaps, which sweep up the data of hundreds of thousands
of US citi
In response to the growing number of data breaches, Proton Mail offers a feature
to paid subscribers called Dark Web Monitoring. Our system checks if your
credentials or other data have been leaked to illegal marketplaces and alerts
you if so. Often
Your email address is your online identity, and you share it whenever you create
a new account for an online service. While this offers convenience, it also
leaves your identity exposed if hackers manage to breach the services you use.
Data breaches
Our mission at Proton is to help usher in an internet that protects your privacy
by default, secures your data, and gives you the freedom of choice.
Today we’re taking another step in this direction with the launch of our open
source password manage