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A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.

404media.co/proton-mail-helped…

404 Media

2026-03-05 20:36:01

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Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester


Privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media.

The records provide insight into the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on its end-to-end encryption and that it is only governed by Swiss privacy law, can and does provide to third parties. In this case, the Proton Mail account was affiliated with the Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTAF) group and Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, which authorities were investigating for their connection to arson, vandalism and doxing. Broadly, members were protesting the building of a large police training center next to the Intrenchment Creek Park in Atlanta, and actions also included camping in the forest and lawsuits. Charges against more than 60 people have since been dropped.

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Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester

Joseph Cox (404 Media)

reshared this

in reply to 404 Media

iam-py-test
mastodon - Collegamento all'originale
iam-py-test
• •
It's not ProtonMail's fault; they have to follow the law.
If they just handed data over without being legally required to, that would be concerning, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
in reply to Marion Grau

J. R. DePriest :EA DATA. SF:
mastodon - Collegamento all'originale
J. R. DePriest :EA DATA. SF:
• •

@marion_grau @iampytest1

Edward Shone, head of communications for Proton AG, the company behind Proton Mail, told 404 Media in an email: “We want to first clarify that Proton did not provide any information to the FBI, the information was obtained from the Swiss justice department via MLAT. Proton only provides the limited information that we have when issued with a legally binding order from Swiss authorities, which can only happen after all Swiss legal checks are passed. This is an important distinction because Proton operates exclusively under Swiss law.” Functionally, though, the material was provided to the FBI.
@Marion Grau @iam-py-test
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