andy1011000 Proton CEO posted:
“People honestly seem to forget that I live in Switzerland, where Republican/Democrat doesn’t mean anything, and Trump isn’t even on our ballot to be voted for…”
Onyx376. replied:
“The point is that fighting for a more just and equal society is not just about fighting for the fundamental right to privacy but also for all other fundamental rights, including individual rights and life. When you, as the CEO of a company that starts from these principles, nod positively to whatever action a political figure like Trump, who is known for always flagrantly putting his private interests ahead of those of his own nation, makes speeches about eliminating minorities, hurting their rights as citizens and flirting with Nazi movements, it is understandable that members of the privacy community are disappointed as this reveals a little about who is being the face of a company that should follow contrary principles. But now we really know what “freedom” means to you.”
Time for a new CEO. Would be great is they went with a nonprofit board with explicit privacy/public good bylaws and at least 1 member elected from the user base… But that’s pretty wishful thinking, huh…
There’s so many Andy bootlickers in that subreddit. I’m glad I quit Reddit.
Having 88 (in binary) in your user name is highly suspicious, especially after takes like the one he recently dropped
I’m feeling very conflicted on this overall. I love proton and I’m not even American, but this whole fiasco is making me think of moving.
They handled this very unprofessionally, and I’m not sure if I’m comfortable trusting them anymore.
Can anyone recommend me some alternatives for some proton software?
I just signed up with proton and was strongly considering moving my Gmail account to their services. But this thing with their CEO is giving me great pause.
I guess it goes to show that no matter what, all ceos/rich people are simply out of touch and cannot be trusted. It is greatly disappointing.
Point of order: not the CEO, a board member. Doesn’t change a ton but worth noting.
Proton AG is kinda complicated.
So its majority shareholder is the Proton Foundation, a non-profit. Andy Yen is one of five members of the Proton Foundation. But Proton AG is still a for-profit corporation, and it still has a CEO. Andy Yen is the CEO of Proton AG.
Basically:
Proton AG (owns every Proton service) = For Profit
It’s Shareholders are:
- Proton Foundation (majority share) (Non-Profit)
- FONGIT (the Fondation Genevoise pour l’Innovation Technologique) (I’m pretty sure this is also a non-profit)
And within the Proton Foundation, is the five members of the board of trustees, one of them is Andy Yen. And its apparant that the board of the Proton Foundation has appointed one of its members, Andy Yen, as the CEO of Proton AG.
This actually confusing for me as well, but the TLDR is, Andy Yen is both a member of the board at Proton Foundation, and simultaneously the CEO of Proton AG.
I’m out of the loop. What happened?
Proton CEO turns out to be a far right nut that has a hard on for Trump and everyone that’s paying for privacy (AKA their entire customer base) is pretty allergic to authoritarians.
