What is zero-access encryption?
Zero-access encryption means only you can read your data — not your service provider or anyone else.
This type of encryption ensures that only you, the data owner, can decrypt and read your information. It keeps your messages, files, and other data fully private, even from the service provider that stores them. This protects your information from unauthorized access, breaches, or government requests.
So why does this matter?
Most Big Tech companies, like Google and Yahoo, don’t use zero-access encryption. That means they can read your messages and files once they’re stored on their servers.
Proton uses zero-access encryption to protect your data at rest. Only you hold the keys to access it. This means no one else (not even us) can access or read your emails after they’ve been delivered and stored on our servers.
To take it a step further, if Proton was the victim of a cybersecurity breach, your emails would remain indecipherable thanks to zero-access encryption.
Why do I need zero-access encryption?
End-to-end encryption requires that the sender and recipient both have the key in order to decrypt the message, but this can be difficult to do in the case of email, if the sender and the recipient don’t use the same provider.
Zero-access encryption adds another layer of security by protecting your data at rest (when it’s stored on our servers). That means even if your recipient uses a less secure service, your message remains encrypted and unreadable on our system.
By using zero-access encryption with end-to-end encryption, your messages will stay encrypted in transit and on our servers, regardless of what email provider your recipient uses.
You’re in control of your data
Zero-access encryption isn’t common because the internet’s largest email providers are able to access your email at rest by design.
Using the contents of your messages, these companies can sell that data to advertisers and marketers, who use that information to build in-depth profiles about you and your online habits.
With zero-access encryption, your data isn’t collected and put up for sale. Instead, you stay in control of your personal information at all times.
Protect your data at all times
Zero-access encryption ensures your data is protected at all times, like when in storage in the cloud, or in your inbox on your email provider’s server.
With this type of encryption, not even hackers can decrypt your messages in the case of a data breach. As a Proton user, your sensitive information is never accessible — not even to us.
A robust security response
Because zero-access encryption protects your data at rest, Proton uses both zero-access encryption and end-to-end encryption to protect your data every step of the way.
Proton Mail never has access to your messages, and because your emails are always encrypted, attempts at hacking your data are easily thwarted. Together, these two methods drastically reduce security vulnerabilities and ensure that your data is always safe and protected.
Ready to double your security?
Take back control of your data by creating a free Proton account today.
