I was just a teenager at the time, but I vividly remember snagging a Gmail invite weeks after it launched 20 years ago. I raved about the free service, its novel cloud-based structure, and how it’d be the Next Big Thing online — insofar as an email account can really be a big thing. All my family members and most of my friends got beta invites from yours truly, as I was definitely the biggest nerd around.

While I’m tickled to have been an early adopter of now-successful technology, though, it’s important to know when enough is enough. For me, that time has come, and I’m moving my primary digital correspondence to privacy-focused Swiss provider Proton Mail. It’s been a long time coming.

Should I, or should I not be evil?

No one company should have so much leverage

We’ve seen a lot go down in the privacy and security realms over the last two decades. Google’s been far from the only culprit, but as the default search engine for most browsers and the curator of Android, the Play Store, Google Analytics, reCaptchas, and more, the Big G has more data on the average North American user than any other corporation.

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Proton Mail’s email alias can protect your identity in the event of a security breach

I’m as far from paranoid as any internet user, and even I use a VPN (primarily for spoofing IP geolocation); while I don’t do anything nefarious, and nobody’s tracking me for anything other than advertising, I prefer knowing I’m a little safer from bad actors that can hijack the content I’m viewing and thus possibly my hardware.

But Google creeps me out, and I’m no longer comfortable using Gmail. The successors to the FAANG stocks, the MAMAA companies (Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet) own a considerable amount of not just forward-facing web resources but also the underlying infrastructure most of the world’s internet relies on. I can’t avoid my data passing through the Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services, but I can limit what sites and apps I actively engage with.

Source: Unsplash

Gmail’s interface is fine, I guess, if somewhat cluttered and not very attractive

Google’s always innocent until it’s not

Until 2017, Google automatically scanned Gmail accounts for keywords that it then used to personalize ads within the platform and probably outside it, too. Here’s why that should terrify you:

• It had likely been happening since Gmail’s launch
• Scans included messages from non-Gmail accounts, presumably contributing to shadow accounts containing data on those users
• Widespread publicity via a 2013 Microsoft ad campaign and lawsuit the same year failed to stop it
• Google’s proposed settlement was rejected for being overly vague and failing to promise proper disclosure of data harvesting practices
• What else is Google doing that we haven’t learned about?

I’m under no misconception that I can extricate myself entirely from Google’s clutches; It’s too ubiquitous, and tons of common apps and services rely on its wide range of services. But I’ll do what I can, which includes moving to Proton Mail, a privacy-centric email provider with encrypted, underground servers, practically the polar opposite of Alphabet Inc.

Google paid over $26 billion in 2021 to remain the default search engine in various browsers

The surprisingly easy switch to Proton Mail

Why Proton Mail is my new favorite email provider

My Proton account isn’t completely new. It’s been lurking in the background for a couple of years after I tested a trial of ProtonVPN a few years back (ProtonVPN was a bit slow back then, but I’m told it’s one of today’s top VPNs). But I made the jump due to Proton’s comprehensive set of features, as well as the policies it enacts to keep your data private. Among Proton’s consumer-friendly practices:

• It opposes data harvesting, ads, and trackers (even the subversive tracking that comes from opening third-party-hosted images)
• It falls under Switzerland’s privacy jurisdiction and isn’t subject to US surveillance
• Theoretically, no other human can view your emails. In fact, if you lose and need to reset your password, you’ll need to use a pre-established recovery key to access previous messages, which would remain inaccessible in case you are somehow hacked
• Support for end-to-end encryption between Proton users and password protection for external emails
• A complete, constantly improving feature set, including cross-platform apps, cloud storage, and a calendar
• Open-source encryption (including optional PGP signing) and independent auditing to ensure strict adherence to standards

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A few clicks, and I never have to access my Gmail page again

Compared to my first brief look years ago, Proton’s UI and general implementation have matured significantly. It was a breeze to forward my current Gmail messages to my now-primary Proton address, and the calendar appears to have integrated well, with alerts showing up consistently on my Android phone.

Source: Proton

I’m perfectly happy with the features provided by Proton’s most affordable tier, the Mail Plus plan. I can create 10 separate addresses and even a custom domain, as well as shorten my existing domain to pm.me (because @protonmail.com is, admittedly, a bit of a mouthful).

It includes 15GB of storage, unlimited folders and filters, and can do everything I ever wanted my Gmail account to do. Most importantly, it keeps my permanent correspondence out of Alphabet’s umbrella.

Proton offers various subscription levels

You can actually use Proton Mail entirely for free, although it does have restrictions: You’re limited to 150 emails per day and 1GB of storage, can’t create custom addresses or domains, and won’t have access to the calendar, or the encrypted password manager and unlimited VPN offered by the Proton Unlimited subscription. But even the free tier’s a far sight better than Gmail.

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Proactive alerts for compromised credentials

Committing to 1 or 2 years of the $5/month low tier drops the price to $4 or $3.50, respectively. The Unlimited tier will set you back $10 or $8 per month at those same subscription lengths and afford you 500GB of storage, 15 custom addresses, 3 custom domains, and unlimited VPN and Proton Pass (its password manager) access. There’s also a six-user family plan starting at $30 and three tiers of slightly more business-focused options.

But I’m really not advertising for Proton here. I’m just choosing to actively take my digital footprint back into my own hands in a way many of us haven’t done since Gmail’s massive rise over a decade ago. It’s well overdue, and over the few weeks I’ve used Proton Mail full-time, I can’t say I regret it or will ever look back.