StartMail invites going out

Got my invite last night, so for those looking to get on Startmail when it launches live the wait shouldn't be much longer.

StartMail is a spin off of the StartPage and IxQuick products. It's an email service provided out of the Netherlands that promises absolute security in that:

-they don't read your emails
-they won't provide your emails to any entity except unless legally requested and approved by the Dutch government
-No backdoors to PRISM or the like
-PGP and SSL encryption on content and emails

It has some other neat features. I signed up for it, so far seems nice. Side side: new email service means virgin access to email address names

I'd like to be in on this

a reply to: UnmitigatedDisaster

Links would be helpful as many different 'items' come up when you search for 'SmartMail'.

a reply to: UnmitigatedDisaster

I use proton mail myself.
second line

StartMail

59.95$$$ Thanks but I'll keep my NSA subsidized Gmail.

Not because I like it, cause I'm broke. Ahah

So what advantage does startmail have over using a open PGP service yourself. Seems like the encryption would only be able to be used when emailing others who have public keys...so in other words not many ppl. Good idea...but how safe does it really make your emails.

originally posted by: FyreByrd
a reply to: UnmitigatedDisaster

Links would be helpful as many different 'items' come up when you search for 'SmartMail'.

It helps that it's "Start Mail" and not Smart haha I mistyped it myself a half dozen times, so I only tease.

www.startmail.com

originally posted by: aussiefly
So what advantage does startmail have over using a open PGP service yourself. Seems like the encryption would only be able to be used when emailing others who have public keys...so in other words not many ppl. Good idea...but how safe does it really make your emails.

It's mostly their supposed refusal to respond to any requests for your email contents or access to it that interests me. Open PGP options are great, but ultimately your mail is still in a storage group from a company that, at least in the U.S., is either already giving information at request to government agencies or has backdoors for them to access it.*

The Startmail terms and conditions state that they refuse any third party company or foreign government requests for information or access to your mailstores; and will only respond to a request legally issued from the Dutch government, and only after it's been reviewed by their legal team.

This should, coupled with their additional statements about not screening email for content and employees having no access to your mailboxes, should be a very secure email option. Not just from a mailing standpoint but from a Big Brother aspect.**

The individual emails can also have a single-key Q&A placed in them so that if you send it to someones non-secure account, they would have to know the answer. It's not a super strong solution, but it's a nice touch if you want to send communication that is secured but still "easy" for it's intended, non-techy, recipient to open.


*If you don't believe in Snowden's reveals or don't mind the Google oversight then really it's not a big deal. Google mail and its competitors work just fine day to day.
**One can make the argument it's too late to hide anything or secure your habits, but that's just not true. You can always make changes to reduce your visible footprint going forward, and that is always a good thing.

Thank you for the measured response...you have some very valid points in there.

a reply to: aussiefly

Happy to help.

I realize it's not going to be a solution for everybody. I know a lot of people who can afford it will still reject it just due to price, but thus far it's the only option next to Proton mail that offers a mail service that is "secure" from the NSA and the like. I liked what I saw of Proton Mail but I elected not to bid/pay via IndieGoGo for a slot with them as Startmail already had a proven track record with StartPage and IxQuick.

Either is a fantastic option and honestly it's a relatively minor cost. Most people pay $60 for a year's antivirus subscription, and will do so without thought because it's just a given need. True secure email should be considered the same type of necessity in my opinion, especially for people like us that definitely do not just accept everything is "okay" with the world.

proton mail is far better, in that they use a form of encryption which prevents even them from being able to read your emails, so if the goverment forced them to hand over access to your inbox, they would be unable to provide the keys to unencrypt, and the government would just have a bunch of encrypted jyberish to look at.

proton mail even has an option that lets you designate your decryption key for any specific email to expire, so i can send an email and within whatever time frame say 30 seconds after the recieving end opens the email it will revert to encrypted and no longer be readable by anyone.

i got my invite into proton mail a few months ago, pretty pleased with it

originally posted by: UnmitigatedDisaster

originally posted by: FyreByrd
a reply to: UnmitigatedDisaster

Links would be helpful as many different 'items' come up when you search for 'SmartMail'.

It helps that it's "Start Mail" and not Smart

haha I mistyped it myself a half dozen times, so I only tease.

www.startmail.com

LOL - thanx.

So it's basically Ello for Email? owo - this sounds good!