Simple Privacy Fix #3
Private Email That Doesn’t Read Your Inbox
The Issue
Every email you send passes through servers that can read it — not just to deliver it, but to build a picture of who you are. Gmail scans your inbox to power the advertising business that makes it “free.” Most people never chose that trade-off; it came bundled with the address they signed up for years ago, back when email was just email.
The Privacy Risk
This isn’t hypothetical. In September 2025, France’s data protection authority fined Google 325 million euros specifically for showing personalized ads inside Gmail without valid user consent. Your inbox holds more about you than almost anything else you own — financial statements, medical correspondence, password resets, private conversations — and a free email provider’s business model depends on knowing what’s in it.
Simple Fixes
These are the tools we personally use and recommend. Both meet our listing criteria: no advertising business model built on reading your inbox, no data selling, personally tested by us.
Zero-access encryption
Our primary recommendation. Proton Mail encrypts your inbox automatically — not even Proton can read it, and no configuration is needed. It supports the open PGP standard for encrypted mail with any other provider, and rolled out post-quantum encryption across all plans, including free, in 2026. It’s backed by the nonprofit Proton Foundation, a structural safeguard against the company ever pivoting toward advertising.
macOS
Linux
Android
iOS
Web
PGP encryption
A solid alternative. Mailbox.org is run by a small, independent German company. You can use it entirely unencrypted for a clean, ad-free inbox that’s already a step up from Gmail or Outlook, or layer on PGP encryption yourself through the built-in browser-based key management or a dedicated email client. It’s fully interoperable with Proton Mail and any other PGP-compatible service, and bundles a calendar, contacts, and office suite.
PGP setup takes a bit more effort than Proton Mail, since you manage your own keys.
IMAP/SMTP clients
From the Blog
Further reading from the Pretty Simple Privacy blog.
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