India may block Proton Mail, according to a story published in the Hindustan Times on Thursday.
The Swiss software company Proton, which focuses on privacy, reports that it has been notified of a possible block of Proton Mail in India following the usage of the service to send bomb threats to Tamil Nadu state schools in the south of India.
India may block Proton Mail
The Indian daily Hindustan Times was informed by a Proton representative in a statement that the company disapproves of the “potential block as a misguided measure that only serves to harm ordinary people.”
“Blocking access to Proton is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats. It will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats with another email service and will not be effective if the perpetrators are located outside of India.”
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According to a story published in the Hindustan Times on Thursday, the Tamil Nadu police requested that the Indian IT Ministry send notices to regional ISPs instructing them to ban Proton Mail. At least thirteen private schools in Chennai reportedly received the fictitious bomb threat, according to police reports.
Senior Tamil Nadu cybercrime wing police officer D Ashok Kumar told Moneycontrol on Friday that he had requested that Proton Mail access be blocked from the IT Ministry.
Proton Mail was described as “least responsive” by Ashok Kumar, the state’s nodal officer for blocking orders when it came to providing information about the culprits behind the bomb threats.
Because the email address is end-to-end encrypted, we were unable to obtain its IP address, mobile number, or other backend data. We are also unable to locate them,” Kumar stated.
Thursday saw no comments from Proton Mail. Additionally, the IT Ministry did not reply to a message seeking comment.
A number of legislators and privacy advocacy organizations voiced their concerns over Proton Mail’s potential ban in India. To prevent their identities from being revealed, sources and whistleblowers frequently use Proton Mail to communicate with journalists. Rajya Sabha member of India Saket Gokhale wrote on X, “Privacy is being destroyed brick by brick.”
Blocking Proton Mail will be the company’s second significant setback. In 2022, a local law forced Proton VPN servers to be removed from India because it obliged virtual private network companies to give New Delhi access to user information.
