Google, known for collecting data, was discovered in 2017 scanning users’ emails for personal information and using them to serve targeted ads. The tech giant was accused of illegal wiretapping and stopped spying on users’ emails after a class action lawsuit. However, to this day, Google bots still scan emails for spam and viruses, allow email searches, and use the autoresponder feature. It seemed like the scandal was over until the Wall Street Journal discovered that Google had been giving third-party apps access to customer emails.
Whenever someone logged into an app with their google account, the app could request permission to access their emails. many blindly accepted. You are not the only one who used an app to keep track of cheap flights or to plan their vacations. Google stated that they review each app’s request for access to sensitive data and block those that “misrepresent themselves”. however, they don’t seem to object to third-party developers reading their customers’ emails, as long as they say so in their privacy policy.
These apps took privacy intrusion one step further. Not only did their bots crawl personal emails, real human beings also read them. Return Path, one of the apps that had access to Gmail data, read more than 8,000 personal emails, which it said was necessary to train AIs and ensure the quality of their work.
If the idea of someone reading your email scares you, choose a different email provider, one that values your privacy. We review 8 alternatives to Gmail that provide encryption and zero targeted ads. here are some things to consider when choosing an email provider that suits your needs.
- jurisdiction and privacy policies. all email providers mentioned below are based in europe and must comply with gdpr rules. They all also have strict privacy policies, but none would refuse to share your data if required to do so by a court order. however, some have policies that protect your data well enough that they don’t have much to offer. this is especially true for providers with zero-knowledge policies.
- encryption standard. pgp is an industry-recognized encryption standard that encrypts client-side information. it has many limitations, which is why many email providers offer openpgp encryption, which is an open source pgp standard. openpgp means your data is encrypted in the web browser or in the cloud, and you can send end-to-end encrypted messages between anyone using the same encryption standard.
- imap, smtp, and / or pop protocols.These protocols give you access to encrypted emails from mobile apps or third-party software like mozilla thunderbird.
- Custom domains.This feature is ideal for small teams and businesses that want custom domain email addresses.
- open source means that the email provider’s code is public and anyone can look for vulnerabilities. this generally makes the service more secure and reliable as those issues are detected and announced or fixed.
- Anonymous payment. Some apps will allow you to use cryptocurrencies or even send cash. others will separate your digital payment details from your email account.
- anonymous signup. this feature is great if you want to remain truly anonymous and keep your identity private.
So which email account would be the safest? Scroll down to learn about each of these Gmail alternatives in more detail.
Tutanota is a German email provider that combines almost all of the privacy features mentioned above. This makes Tutanota arguably the best choice for private emails.
With your note, your entire mailbox is encrypted, including your contact list. This data is then stored in data centers in Germany. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow you to import and encrypt your old emails, but it does offer other features, such as default end-to-end encryption between tutanota users and encrypted emails for non-tutanota users. these latest emails work with previously shared passwords.
Unlike other email providers, tutanota does not use openpgp encryption and does not support imap, pop or smtp. this means that it is not compatible with other email service providers and cannot be used with third-party applications. instead, tutanota used its own encryption, which supports forward secrecy, meaning that a stolen encryption key will only unlock that one message and the rest will remain safe.
tutanota is GDPR compliant and seems to value your privacy. it does not track you or show you targeted ads. It also removes your IP address from your emails so snoops can’t see your location. it is open source and also offers two-factor authentication.
Posteo is another great German product that complies with strict European privacy laws. It’s also good to know that the company, which was founded over a decade ago, is entirely self-financed. This means that they have no obligations to share any data with partners or investors, but it also means that it’s not a free email service.
posteo uses openpgp encryption and many additional layers of encryption to ensure a high level of security. posteo is also compatible with the imap protocol, which means you can access your email on any device.
The software is open source, so anyone can take a look at its code. You can also use posting completely anonymously, from registration to payment. even if you pay with paypal, card or other digital method, they will separate this data from your account. Subject headings, body text, metadata, attachments, contacts, and even your calendar appointments are encrypted and stored on servers in Germany. they use zero-knowledge encryption, which means they couldn’t decrypt your emails even if they wanted to. the company also removes your ip address and does not keep any logs.
Posting’s only drawbacks may be that it doesn’t offer custom domains and doesn’t have a spam folder. suspicious emails will be rejected or sent directly to your inbox. if you choose posting, it would be a good idea to hone your spam detection skills with this blog post!
StartMail was founded by the Dutch private search engine Startpage team, so you can be sure that your privacy is their ultimate goal. They only gather the data they need to provide their service, such as your IP address, device model, country and clicked links. The collected data is only stored for the length of your browsing session. Only your IP address is kept for security reasons, but even then, it’s encrypted, anonymized and deleted after 3 days. The use of tracking cookies is strictly forbidden.
startmail offers pgp encryption and your emails are stored on their local Dutch servers. what makes this email provider different is that they encrypt your information server-side instead of in the browser. they feel doing so is more secure than in-browser encryption, and you can read why they think so in their white paper. it also supports imap and smtp protocols and can also create a temporary “email on the fly”.
You can pay for your subscription with cryptocurrency or card. if you choose the latter, your payment details will be assigned a unique number and will be separated from your account details.
Runbox is a user-friendly and provides majority of the features you would a private email provider. The company is based in Norway, so it has strict constitutionally-guaranteed privacy policies. Runbox is also a socially responsible business that uses renewable hydropower energy.
You can use runbox or a third party domain to create your email address, which will also work in a mobile app. importing your emails is also easy, but if you need some guidance, you can find more information in its dedicated how-to section.
The company says that they do not monitor your activity or share any data with third parties. they also allow users to verify their code while it is running on an open source platform. you can pay for your subscription in cryptocurrency or send an anonymous cash payment.
The only drawback is that runbox’s end-to-end pgp encryption is not enabled by default. you’ll need to set it up yourself, which may require some technical knowledge. you can find a complete guide on their website. Furthermore, Runbox automatically scans your emails for spam and viruses, which can cause some privacy issues. unfortunately, the company doesn’t indicate if this changes once you set up encryption.
This Belgian private email provider seems like a perfect all-rounder. It cares about your privacy, offers OpenPGP encryption, and has features like calendar and contact functionality. It also allows you to migrate your domain.
What makes mailfence stand out is that it allows users to send encrypted messages to recipients that don’t support openpgp. uses symmetric encryption to derive an encryption/decryption key from the password you set for your encrypted message. you can even set an expiration date before you send it. the recipient will get a url that leads to your message, which can only be accessed with a password. how the recipient obtains the password is up to you.
Although mailfence offers some unique features, it unfortunately logs “ip addresses, message identifiers, sender and recipient addresses, subjects, browser versions, countries and timestamps”. unlike other private email providers, its code is also not open source.
The CounterMail interface might look a little bit outdated and not that user-friendly, but it has 10+ years of experience and some of the strongest encryption available. Like its competitors, it uses OpenPGP, but only CounterMail offers 4,096-bit encryption keys along with their no-logs policy. Your information is stored on servers in Sweden, which, like other European countries, has strict privacy laws.
This service offers a built-in password manager and additional layers of security, ie their servers have full disk encryption and your connection to the servers goes through a tunnel to prevent ip leaks and man-in-the-middle attacks. . however, all of these security features make countermail one of the most expensive email providers on the market. it also supports payments in cryptocurrencies and custom domains.
The Swiss Proton Mail, like other providers, offers PGP encryption for your emails in transit and encryption for your data at rest. Your data is encrypted on the client side under a zero-knowledge policy, meaning that your encryption key stays on your device and your messages cannot be seen by Proton Mail team. It also offers a “self-destructing message” tool that ensures that your emails delete themselves after a certain period of time. The downside is that Proton Mail doesn’t encrypt metadata, headers, or the subject lines of your emails.
This popular email provider started as a crowdfunding project supporting internet freedom. It was even touted by the US media as “the only email system the NSA can’t hack.” However, they were quickly offered large investments from some US-based companies. uu., which they accepted.
so is proton mail more secure than gmail? definitely. they encrypt messages from their users, so even if someone managed to break into their servers, they wouldn’t be able to decrypt anything. Proton Mail also does not track the personal data of its users: they do not scan emails, log IP addresses, or require personally identifiable information to register. it also offers a free email service, though you can pay for additional storage and features.
Mailbox is a great all-rounder that was launched in Germany in 2014 after the Snowden revelations. It’s an ad-free and secure email provider that offers a calendar, contact lists, a task planner, and cloud storage. Individuals, teams, or businesses can use Mailbox, and it also supports third-party email clients.
This email provider offers data transmission with mandatory ssl/tls encryption and pgp encryption for your data at rest. All emails are stored on two separate servers in Germany, so if something happens to one of them, your data will remain safe.
mailbox cares about your privacy and supports anonymous registration and payment. you can pay with cryptocurrency or even send cash through the mail. they also strongly believe that their data is really theirs. They do not read your emails, not even for statistical reasons, nor do they share any information with third parties. they only log your ip address, which they need for security purposes and for access control function, but even this data is deleted after 4 days.
gmail has many privacy issues that leave its users in doubt. If you’ve decided to opt for one of these Gmail alternatives, check out our guide on how to permanently delete your Google account. Have you decided to give Google another chance? Check if your Gmail hasn’t been hacked and make sure you use additional security and privacy tools like a reliable NordPass password manager, encryption software, and a VPN.