Privacy-focused email service 'Proton Mail' provided personal information to the Swiss government and even reached the FBI

Proton Mail , a privacy-focused email service that touts end-to-end encryption and compliance with strict Swiss privacy laws, has reportedly provided users' payment data to Swiss authorities, which in turn passed it on to the FBI, according to an investigation by 404 Media.

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous 'Stop Cop City' Protester
https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/

According to court documents reviewed by 404 Media, Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with user payment data, which was then obtained by the FBI, who reportedly used the data to identify individuals connected to the ' Stop Cop City ' protests in Atlanta , Georgia, over the construction of a police training center.

The Stop Cop City movement, led by a forest protection group called 'Defend the Atlanta Forest (DAF, DTAF),' has been protesting the construction of the police training center, including camping at the planned construction site and filing lawsuits. Some protesters have even spray-painted messages on related buildings and set fire to other buildings.

In January 2023, Manuel Esteban Paez Teran , an environmental activist involved in the Stop Cop City movement, was shot and killed by police while in a tent in the forest. The incident received widespread attention both in the United States and abroad, and at the time of writing, there is ongoing debate about whether the police response was appropriate.

New documents shed light on police killing of Georgia 'Cop City' activist | 'Cop City' | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/28/georgia-cop-city-killing

The Proton Mail account the FBI obtained was DAF's main email address, '[email protected].' The FBI received information about the email address from Swiss authorities pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty , a treaty between two or more countries for the enforcement of public or criminal laws.

The document, reviewed by 404 Media, reads, 'On January 25, 2024, subscriber information received through the Swiss Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty revealed (name) as the source of the payment for [email protected].' 404 Media declined to disclose the name, as the individual does not appear to have been charged with a crime.

A spokesperson for Proton AG, which operates Proton Mail, responded to 404 Media's inquiry: 'First, let me make it clear that Proton has not provided any information to the FBI. The information was obtained from the Swiss Ministry of Justice through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Proton provides limited information only when it receives a legally binding order from the Swiss authorities. This is only possible after passing all Swiss legal reviews. This is an important distinction because Proton operates solely under Swiss law.'

However, 404 Media stated that 'functionally, the information was provided to the FBI,' pointing out that as a result, Proton Mail user information was in the hands of the FBI.

The incident has also become a hot topic on the social news site Hacker News.

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous 'Stop Cop City' Protester | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47267628

'People will never understand this, but Proton is a privacy-based email server, not a dark web where you can do whatever you want without worrying about anything,' one user said. Proton claims that it cannot access email data, but can access users' IP addresses and device IDs, and can track users from there.