In a contentious move, India has threatened to outlaw Proton Mail.
Proton, a software business based in Switzerland that focuses on privacy, stated that it has been notified that its email service may be blocked in India after it was used to convey bomb threats to schools in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India.
In a statement, the business stated that it opposes the proposed ban as a foolish policy that will only hurt common people.
According to Broughton, "denying access is an inappropriate and ineffective response to reported threats." Blocking won't work if the cybercriminals are based outside of India and won't stop them from issuing threats over another email service.
At the Tamil Nadu Police's request, the Indian Ministry of Information Technology has sent notices to regional ISPs asking them to disable Proton email service.
According to authorities, at least 13 private schools in Chennai received a fictitious bomb threat.
Senior police officer Ashok Kumar of the cybercrime unit in Tamil Nadu said he had asked the IT ministry to halt access to Proton's email service.
Kumar went on to say that when it comes to disclosing information about the culprits behind the bomb threats, Proton is not acting appropriately.
"Because that information is end-to-end encrypted, we were unable to obtain the email address's IP address, mobile number, or any other related information," he stated. Additionally, we are unable to track down the suspects.
Concerns over the potential for barring encrypted email services in India have been voiced by numerous MPs and privacy advocacy groups.
The Swiss-based firm, which was had to remove its VPN servers in India in 2022 due to a local law mandating VPN operators to give their customers' information to New Delhi, has suffered another big setback with the blocking of the encrypted email service.
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