Email Snooping Isnât A Myth
Most of us assume our emails are private. But hereâs the uncomfortable truth: many major email providers read, scan, and even sell insights from your messages.
Companies like Gmail (Google), Yahoo Mail, Outlook (Microsoft), and AOL actively scan your emails. Why? They use the information to:
- Target ads based on your conversations
- Analyze personal habits, interests, and shopping patterns
- Build detailed profiles that can be shared with advertisers
Even if the company promises "free" email, youâre actually paying with your personal data.
How Much Data Are We Talking About?
Email contains almost everything about your life; your travel plans, conversations with friends, financial statements, medical information, business communications, and even intimate personal thoughts.
Every email you send, every attachment you open, every link you click is logged, analysed, and stored. Over time, this data builds an incredibly detailed portrait of who you are, and what you are.
Zero Access Encryption: Your Email, Your Rules
This is where Proton Mail changes the game. Proton Mail uses zero access encryption, which means:
- Only you and your intended recipient can read the messages.
- Even Proton Mail cannot access your emails, unlike Gmail or Outlook.
- Your personal data remains private, not fodder for advertisers.
Zero access encryption ensures that no oneânot hackers, not governments, not the email providerâcan read your messages without your permission.
Is Proton Mail free? No. You pay for it. Remember, if youâre not paying, youâre the product.
Why Privacy Matters More Than Ever
In 2026, data harvesting is bigger than most people realise. Every click, every message, every search is tracked. Without strong protections, your personal life can be analysed, sold, or even used against you.
Switching to providers like Proton Mail puts you back in control. Itâs not just about sending emails, itâs about protecting your identity, your finances, your work, and your personal relationships.
Taking Control of Your Email
Moving away from big providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook isnât just a preference, itâs a privacy upgrade. Proton Mail:
- Does not scan your emails for advertising purposes
- Offers end-to-end encryption by default
- Protects your emails even if someone gains access to the servers
Your inbox should be your private space, not a goldmine for marketers.
Use Your Own Domain
Use your own domain for your email. This has huge benefits over using the email assigned to you by Big Tech:
- Freedom to switch: Youâre not locked in to a single provider that may scan or monetise your emails.
- Consistency: One email address you can keep for years, even decades.
- Privacy protection: You reduce dependence on big companies that might read your messages or sell insights about you.
In short, your own domain makes your email address your property - not just a username controlled by someone else. Itâs a simple but powerful way to take back control of your online life.
You have email with Gmail? Move it to Proton Mail. A few simple changes to your DNS records and you're done. MOst providers like Proton Mail will let you import your mail too with a few clicks too!