Why a court ban on encrypted email service Proton Mail has sparked digital privacy fears

A two-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is now hearing a challenge filed by Proton AG, the Swiss company that runs the encrypted email service, Proton Mail. On April 29, a single judge of the high court had directed the Union government to block the service in India, setting off a wave of criticism from digital rights advocates.

Many of them told Scroll that the court’s ban set a dangerous precedent that threatens the privacy of whistle-blowers, activists, journalists, and others who rely on encryption for more secure communications. They said the court had erred in blaming encryption for Proton’s alleged non-cooperation with the Karnataka police in its investigation into online harassment by anonymous culprits through its email service.

What did the High Court order say?

The case began when a Bengaluru-based organisation approached the High Court after some of its female employees were subjected to prolonged online harassment. The company received a torrent of emails from two Proton Mail accounts containing obscene and abusive content, including morphed images of the employees.

The company filed a police complaint and reached out to Proton Mail’s abuse team. While Proton disabled the offending accounts, it could not provide the company personally identifiable details of the sender of the mail. This...

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