Google and Facebook will swear up and down that they do not sell your data. While technically true, they do sell access to your data. Basically, your data is private from everyone – but them. And that’s a crucial caveat. To have true privacy, you want to work with a company who has absolutely minimal access to your data. You want privacy by design. And this is not easy to do with a very old internet standard like email. Proton has been offering truly private email for almost a decade (ProtonMail) and over the years has added many other features like a VPN and calendar, making them a true privacy-respecting alternative to the likes of Google. Today I’ll speak with Proton’s founder and CEO, Dr. Andy Yen, about the importance of privacy as a human right and the delicate balance between privacy and the needs of law enforcement. I’ll ask him how to evaluate products for privacy and what can we can all do to bring about a better future where we can express ourselves freely.

Dr. Andy Yen is the founder and CEO of Proton. He was a scientist at CERN, has a PhD in physics from Harvard University, and he has long worked to advance privacy and freedom online.