I'm part of Proton's affiliate program, which means I earn a small commission if you upgrade to a paid plan through my links. This supports OmniFetch (my iOS app) and helps maintain this blog. That said, my review of Proton's services is based purely on their features and capabilities, not on commission potential.

For some of us, digital privacy has become an afterthought. We accept Gmail's terms, store files on Google Drive, and use browser-generated passwords without much consideration. But in 2025, the reality is worth examining carefully. Major technology companies analyse your data, scan your content using machine learning, and structure their business models around extracting value from personal information. Meanwhile, governments are actively undermining privacy protections. The UK government has effectively banned Apple from offering Advanced Data Protection to new users, forcing 10 categories of iCloud data including backups, photos, and documents to revert to weaker standard encryption rather than end-to-end encryption. When even premium privacy features are stripped away by government pressure, the message is clear: relying on corporate promises of privacy protection is no longer enough.

Proton offers a genuinely different approach. Founded in 2014 by scientists at CERN who were frustrated by the erosion of digital privacy, the company has spent over a decade building alternatives to the tools most of us use every day. Their Black Friday campaign makes this privacy protection more accessible than ever.

Understanding Proton's Philosophy

What distinguishes Proton from conventional technology companies runs through every technical and business decision the company makes. Proton operates under zero-access encryption—meaning even Proton's own employees cannot read your data. When you send an encrypted email through Proton Mail, the encryption happens on your device before the message leaves your computer. By the time it reaches Proton's servers, it's already locked so only the intended recipient can unlock it.

This commitment extends beyond encryption. Proton deliberately avoids collecting metadata that technology companies typically hoard for advertising purposes. The company is funded by user subscriptions, not advertising revenue, which removes the financial incentive to exploit personal information.

Based in Switzerland with data centres in privacy-friendly jurisdictions, your data falls under Swiss privacy law—significantly stricter than American frameworks. Switzerland isn't part of the EU data-sharing agreements or the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, meaning Proton doesn't face the same surveillance pressures as companies based in the US, UK, Canada, or Australia.

Proton's code is open source, meaning any security researcher can examine exactly how the encryption works. The company regularly commissions independent third-party security audits with results published publicly, building trust through transparency.

Why This Matters Now

In 2025, privacy is not a luxury—it's a necessity. Data breaches regularly expose millions of people's personal information. Governments worldwide are expanding surveillance capabilities. Artificial intelligence systems are trained on vast datasets including personal information scraped from the internet and private accounts. Technology companies monetise your data more aggressively than ever, with sophisticated tracking systems and behavioural profiling capabilities that continue expanding.

At the same time, privacy is increasingly difficult to maintain. By default, using mainstream services means accepting that your digital life is being monitored, analysed, and monetised. Reclaiming privacy requires deliberate choices and using services specifically designed to respect privacy.

The erosion of privacy has real consequences. Your browsing history can be sold to data brokers. Your emails can be analysed for advertising targeting. Your files can be scanned for content that advertisers want to reach. Your passwords can be compromised in breaches. Over time, this adds up to a comprehensive digital profile of who you are, what you think, what you do, and what you want. This profile is worth money to marketers and can be dangerous in the hands of governments or malicious actors.

Proton's Black Friday campaign offers a rare opportunity to invest in genuine privacy protection at unprecedented discounts. These aren't cosmetic improvements to existing services—they're fundamentally different approaches to digital privacy. Your data remains yours. Your communications remain private. Your browsing remains anonymous. Your passwords remain secure. Your files remain encrypted and inaccessible to anyone without your permission.

For journalists, activists, lawyers, medical professionals, and anyone handling sensitive information, privacy isn't optional. For everyone else, privacy is simply the foundation of digital security. Proton makes both possible at prices that make sense.

Reclaiming Internet Privacy

Proton VPN's 75% Black Friday discount brings the Plus plan down to €2.49 per month—less than a premium coffee.

Without a VPN, your internet service provider sees exactly which websites you visit. Governments can monitor your activity. Websites track your real location. Advertisers build detailed profiles of your browsing habits. A VPN routes your connection through an encrypted tunnel before reaching the open internet, hiding your activity from ISPs, websites, and advertisers.

Not all VPNs are equal. Some VPN providers log activity and sell that data. Others claim privacy whilst operating from countries with aggressive surveillance frameworks. Proton operates a strict no-logs policy verified by independent third-party auditors—Proton genuinely does not store information about your browsing activity.

Proton VPN Plus provides access to 15,000 servers across 122 countries. Using VPN Accelerator technology, it maintains high speeds essential for streaming 4K video, competitive gaming, or downloading large files. For most users, the difference in browsing speed is imperceptible.

NetShield, an integrated ad and malware blocker, works at the DNS level—preventing your device from connecting to known malicious websites and ad-serving networks before threats reach your browser. This works across all applications, not just browsers, providing comprehensive protection whether you're browsing, checking email, or using social media applications.

For users prioritising maximum privacy, Secure Core routes traffic through hardened servers in Switzerland, Iceland, or Sweden before exiting onto the open internet. This multi-hop approach makes tracing your activity significantly more difficult for adversaries. Tor over VPN functionality allows routing through both Proton's VPN and the Tor network for the highest anonymity level when you really need it.

Practically, Proton VPN Plus benefits journalists reporting from censored countries, remote workers connecting from public Wi-Fi, travellers accessing home-country streaming services, and activists requiring genuine privacy. Port forwarding functionality also supports P2P file sharing with increased download speeds.

The VPN Plus offer runs until January 5th, 2026, at €2.49 per month for 24 months—under €60 for two years of comprehensive VPN protection.

Privacy in Your Inbox

Your email account serves as the master key to your digital life—the recovery mechanism for other accounts, address for financial services, and frequently where sensitive personal and professional information is stored. Yet most people use Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo Mail.

Gmail is free because Google makes money reading your emails. The company scans messages for keywords, analyses behaviour, builds detailed interest profiles, and serves targeted advertising. Even if you've never consciously noticed this, you've likely experienced the uncanny timing of relevant advertisements appearing shortly after emailing about a topic.

Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption. When sending an email from one Proton account to another, encryption happens on your device. By the time the email reaches Proton's servers, it's locked. Proton employees cannot read it. Governments cannot compel Proton to reveal contents. The email remains encrypted both in transit and at rest, accessible only through your account's decryption key.

For non-Proton addresses, Proton uses zero-access encryption. Incoming emails are encrypted with your public key before entering your inbox, ensuring only you can decrypt them. If a data breach at Proton occurred, incoming emails would remain completely useless to attackers.

The 60% Black Friday discount on Proton Mail Plus reduces the monthly cost to €1.99. You receive 500 gigabytes of storage—far more than typical users need—along with several privacy-transforming features.

Hide-My-Email generates unique, random email addresses for each signup. Rather than using your primary email when registering for newsletters, creating website accounts, or trying new services, you use a unique alias. If that service is hacked or begins selling email addresses to marketers, you simply deactivate that alias. Your real email remains protected. Over time, this prevents your email from appearing in multiple data breaches—a common spam and phishing vector.

Proton Mail Plus allows using custom domains. Professionals and small business owners can send and receive emails from branded domains (yourname@yourcompany.co.uk) whilst maintaining Proton's encryption and privacy protections—flexibility impossible with mainstream email providers.

Password-protected emails let you send sensitive information to non-Proton users by setting a password and expiration date. Recipients receive a link and must enter the password (shared separately) to read the message. After your specified expiration time, the message automatically disappears—valuable when sharing login credentials, bank details, or confidential documents.

An integrated encrypted calendar helps professionals manage schedules privately. Calendar entries are encrypted like emails, and you can share calendars with colleagues, family, or clients whilst maintaining full privacy. The sharing remains encrypted throughout.

Sophisticated tracker blocking removes invisible tracking pixels in many emails that notify senders when you've opened messages, allowing marketers to build activity profiles and determine location based on IP address. Proton automatically strips these trackers, preventing data gathering about your email-reading habits.

The Mail Plus offer is valid until January 5th, 2026, at €1.99 per month—compelling for anyone sending sensitive emails or preferring not to be profiled by technology companies.

Your Private Cloud Storage

Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox offer genuine convenience. They allow you to access files from any device and collaborate remotely. However, these companies analyse documents for various purposes—Google for advertising personalisation, Microsoft for improving services, and Dropbox for features like automatic file organisation. Uploading files means trusting corporations with sensitive information.

Proton Drive handles this differently. Like Proton Mail, it uses end-to-end encryption. Your files are encrypted on your device before upload. Proton never sees unencrypted files. Your file names, folder structures, and metadata are all encrypted. If someone gained access to Proton's servers, they'd find encrypted blobs with no way to determine what information they contain or how they're organised.

The 60% Black Friday discount on Proton Drive Plus brings the cost to €1.99 per month, including 500 gigabytes of storage—sufficient for most users' document and photo needs. For context, 500 gigabytes holds approximately 250,000 high-resolution photographs or thousands of documents and spreadsheets.

Setting up is straightforward. Drag and drop files into the web interface or use dedicated desktop and mobile applications for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Once uploaded, files are automatically encrypted. You organise them into folders and subfolders just as with Google Drive or any other cloud service—with the knowledge they're protected by end-to-end encryption.

File sharing offers more granular control than many alternatives. Create sharing links with optional passwords and expiration dates. If sharing a document with colleagues, specify that links expire after seven days, forcing fresh link requests for continued access. You can revoke access at any time, immediately preventing file access even if recipients still have the link. This control is essential when sharing sensitive business documents or personal information.

Proton Drive integrates with Proton Docs, an online document editor similar to Google Docs. Create documents, spreadsheets, and files directly within Drive with automatic encryption. Multiple users can collaborate in real-time—essential for remote teams—whilst maintaining end-to-end encryption throughout. Comments, revisions, and all collaborative features remain encrypted. This differs significantly from Google Docs, where Google can analyse collaborative document content to improve its services and advertising.

For photographers and those managing large image collections, Proton Drive offers photo backup and organisation. Photos automatically back up from phones or tablets, organised into albums, fully encrypted. Access your photo library from any device without original images stored unencrypted anywhere. Create private albums for specific photo collections, ensuring sensitive photos remain truly private.

The Drive Plus offer expires December 8th, 2025. At €1.99 monthly for a year of encrypted cloud storage with real-time collaboration, it represents exceptional value.

Securing Your Digital Identity

The average person has dozens of online accounts—email, bank, social media, work systems, streaming services—each requiring login credentials. Security advice is consistent: use unique, complex passwords for every account, never reusing across different services.

Yet most people do reuse passwords. It's convenient. Remembering dozens of unique passwords is impractical, so people use variations of the same password or simple, easily guessable ones. This creates catastrophic security problems. When services are hacked and credentials are exposed, attackers immediately try the same username and password on other major websites. If they work, attackers gain access to email, banks, social media—everything connected to that reused password. Data breaches happen constantly; major security incidents involving millions of credentials are now routine.

Password managers solve this problem by generating unique, complex passwords for every account and storing them encrypted. You only need to remember one master password. Proton Pass is Proton's answer to this essential security tool, fundamentally different from many mainstream password managers because it uses the same zero-access encryption philosophy as Proton's other services.

The 60% Black Friday discount on Proton Pass Plus brings it to €1.99 monthly (expiring December 8th, 2025). Like all Proton services, Proton Pass uses zero-access encryption. Your passwords are encrypted on your device before reaching Proton's servers. Proton cannot decrypt them, cannot access them, and cannot see what accounts you have or what passwords you use. This is crucial—some password managers can technically access passwords if they're compromised or if they comply with government requests. Proton Pass cannot, because encryption is fundamental to its architecture.

Setting up involves creating an account and downloading the application on your various devices. The application works on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and as browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. When logging into accounts, Proton Pass autofills your username and password across supported browsers and applications. This is more secure than browser password management because Proton Pass uses stronger encryption and better protects against malware attempting to extract credentials.

The password generator is invaluable. When creating new accounts, you can ask Proton Pass to generate strong, unique passwords automatically. These complex, random passwords are impossible to guess or crack, yet Proton Pass stores them securely so you never need to remember them. The generator allows customisation—specify password length, character types, and other parameters to meet specific account requirements.

Dark Web Monitoring scans known data breach databases and the dark web to determine if your credentials have been compromised. Alerts indicate if passwords have been found in public breaches, recommending password changes for those accounts. This early warning system prevents attackers from leveraging stolen passwords before you're aware of breaches. Pass Monitor additionally checks your vault for weak passwords, reused passwords, and accounts missing two-factor authentication.

Proton Pass stores secure notes, credit card information, and custom items. You can attach files to entries—backup codes, recovery keys, identity documents—with attachments remaining encrypted within your vault. For managing credentials for multiple accounts or shared access situations, Proton Pass offers secure sharing. Share individual passwords, entire folders, or complete vaults with trusted contacts. All shared credentials remain end-to-end encrypted; Proton cannot see what you're sharing, and sharing occurs directly between encrypted vaults.

An integrated two-factor authentication system adds an additional security layer. Rather than juggling a separate authenticator application, Proton Pass can generate and automatically fill two-factor authentication codes alongside your login credentials. This doesn't replace two-factor authentication—your account is still protected by the dual-factor requirement—but it eliminates the friction of switching between applications. Time-based one-time passwords are generated directly within Proton Pass.

For Plus plan users specifically, Proton Sentinel provides advanced security. This high-security programme uses machine learning algorithms and human security analysts to detect and block account takeover attacks. If someone attempts accessing your Proton account through suspicious means—from unfamiliar locations or unusual devices—Sentinel detects it and prevents the login, then alerts you. This sophisticated protection goes beyond standard two-factor authentication.

Building Your Complete Privacy Ecosystem

Individually, each Proton service provides substantial value. Together, they create a comprehensive privacy ecosystem protecting your entire digital life. Your encrypted email ensures communications remain private. Your encrypted password manager keeps credentials secure and unique. Your encrypted cloud storage protects files. Your encrypted VPN ensures browsing remains private.

More importantly, these services integrate seamlessly. Your Proton Pass account works with your Proton Mail account. Your Proton Drive files can be securely shared via Proton Mail. Your Proton Calendar syncs with Proton Mail. Your Proton VPN protects traffic whilst accessing other Proton services. Using the complete Proton suite creates a cohesive, privacy-respecting digital life fundamentally unlike Big Tech alternatives.

This integration ensures consistent security across all digital activities. You're not mixing encrypted services with unencrypted ones. You're not trusting some aspects of your digital life to privacy-respecting companies and other aspects to surveillance-focused corporations. Everything operates under the same zero-access encryption philosophy.

For professionals handling confidential information, this integrated approach is essential. Lawyers, journalists, activists, medical professionals, and anyone working with sensitive data can build a truly secure digital workspace. Your files are encrypted in storage and in transit. Your emails are encrypted end-to-end. Your passwords are protected and unique. Your browsing is completely private. Together, these services eliminate the privacy gaps that vulnerable infrastructure typically leaves open.

Making the Shift: What You Need to Know

If you've decided to switch to Proton services, a few practical considerations matter.

First, switching email addresses is more involved than switching password managers or starting to use a VPN. You'll want to change your email address on all accounts that matter—your bank, your social media profiles, your work systems. This is a one-time administrative task that might take an hour or two depending on how many accounts you maintain. Proton provides an Easy Switch tool that can import your existing emails and contacts from Gmail or other providers, which eases the transition. You can set up email forwarding from your old account to your new Proton address for a transition period, allowing you to gradually inform contacts of your new address.

Second, Proton services work optimally when used comprehensively. A VPN is useful on its own. Proton Mail is useful on its own. But the real protection comes from combining services. Your email is encrypted when you're sending messages and when your data is stored. Your browsing is private when you use the VPN. Your files are secure in Proton Drive. Your passwords are protected in Proton Pass. The combined effect is powerful. You're not leaving gaps in your privacy that Big Tech can exploit.

Third, Proton's free plans are genuinely usable. You can use Proton Mail free with limited storage. You can use Proton VPN free with bandwidth limitations but no data logging. You can use Proton Pass free with most features available. You can even use Proton Drive free with limited storage. This means you can try Proton's services at no cost before committing to paid plans. The Black Friday offers make paid plans an exceptional value proposition if you decide you want more features and storage.

Fourth, consider your workflow. If you're already embedded in Google's ecosystem, the transition takes planning. But it's entirely possible. Many professionals have successfully switched from Google Workspace to Proton. The process is smoother if you do it systematically—start with email, then move to cloud storage, then password management, and finally add the VPN. You don't need to switch everything simultaneously.

Final Thoughts

Privacy isn't about having something to hide. Privacy is about maintaining dignity, autonomy, and control over your own life. It's about preventing corporations and governments from building comprehensive profiles of your behaviour, preferences, and beliefs. It's about choosing what information you share and with whom.

For too long, privacy has felt like a losing battle. Big Tech has become so dominant that opting out feels impossible. But it's not. Proton proves that genuinely private alternatives to mainstream services are possible. They're built to a high standard of security. They work on all your devices. They integrate seamlessly with each other. And with Black Friday pricing, they're affordable.

Whether you're concerned about corporate data exploitation, government surveillance, or just want to reclaim control of your digital life, Proton offers a complete, verified, audited solution. The question isn't whether you can afford to switch to privacy—it's whether you can afford not to.

Your privacy is worth protecting. Proton makes it affordable.

SPONSORED

I earn a commission through the Proton affiliate programme if you upgrade to a paid plan through these links. This doesn't affect your cost—you pay the same price you would directly through Proton. However, I've verified all technical claims in this article against official Proton sources and independent security audits.