Don't downplay the problem. An overwhelming majority of email that ProtonMail users get is in fact unencrypted. Not only that, but an overwhelming majority of email that ProtonMail users send is unencrypted as well.

It might get encrypted after the fact, but that email passes through their servers, which means ProtonMail can be coerced into doing blanket surveillance if the law allows it and any claims that ProtonMail protects you from that are bullshit.

>> "encrypted email service" is something that you have made impossible by definition.

It's not my definition, that's just what you get with email.

E2E encrypted email can only work if it's optional (e.g. PGP, when both parties agree on the keys), which is for secrecy, not privacy, because a majority of email sent or received will be unencrypted, because that's just how email was designed, that's how it works.

I don't have a problem btw with ProtonMail's implementation per se. Certainly it has value in certain contexts ... like if all of your work colleagues or all of your family is on ProtonMail, then you can have some peace of mind, but then again for a controlled, small group you can just go with PGP directly, which would be more trustworthy actually.

The problem is that many of the claims being made are bullshit. No, ProtonMail is not 100% e2e encrypted, in common use their servers will see most of your emails sent and received unencrypted and it will not protect your privacy.

So that's why it is snake oil.