Sitejabber U.

Request # *******
==============

--------------------------
Monday, 05 April 2024:

Here the official message from their Proton Mail Abuse Team:

"We can see that your account was reported and disabled due to unsolicited and spammy messaging.

These actions are not allowed on our service and are strictly against our terms.

Please explain your actions and provide us with details about the purpose of your account, so our team can reassess this case and assist you further." -

No forewarning, strikes, etc., nothing, my entire account access was suspended immediately.

No word about who reported, which message(s), when, frequency, etc., nothing.

Not innocent until proven guilty, not able to face the accuser, no due process. -

I did not sent any group, list, etc. type of e-mails.

I only sent individual e-mails to persons, organizations, etc. that I am directly engaged with and/or transacting with.

I am using webmail since over 30 years, and 4 years ago switched to a paid and supposedly more private & secure Proton Mail account.

None of my e-mail accounts have ever been suspended. -

I am a professional & international traveler, and literally my private & work life depends on this e-mail address; incl. Work, travel, visa, finance, etc.

I am devastated and stranded.

Help please.

---------------------------
Saturday, 06 April 2024:

In a follow-up e-mail marked as urgent I asked Proton Mail to restore viewing access to my account so that I can at least continue monitoring my inbox while transitioning my work & private affairs to an alternative e-mail provider.

I also asked them if they could please assist me to defend myself against this fraudulent or erroneous spam reporting.

No response.

---------------------------
Sunday, 07 April 2024:

Still no response from Proton and/or at least e-mail viewing access to vital personal e-mail data.

Proton's apparent list of priorities:

1. Somebody somewhere filing a fraudulent or triggering an erroneous spam report about something.

2. Proton company concerned about their domain name reputation.

5. Proton customer loyal, paying, promoting and without any history of any issues over all the years.

---------------------------
Monday, 08 April 2024:

Here the official response from their Proton Mail Abuse Team:

"Thank you for your explanation.

Note that we can't disclose how our anti-spam system works, for security reasons; in this particular case, we have proceeded with your request and have restored access to your account.

If you need additional assistance, do reach out." -

Given the above response from the Proton team I have bumped up the rating for this review from very negative to neutral. -

During the next couple of days I will also follow-up with them as to:

1. Why they cannot or do not want disclose what had just happened in my particular case, so that at least there is a learning curve for both sides, and so that such an unacceptable situation can be prevented in the future?

2. Whether there are currently any workarounds and/or solutions; e.g.

2.1 Using a custom personal domain name in my e-mail address in case the Proton team is very concerned about the cleanliness of their own proprietary domain names.

2.2 Using Proton and/or public tools which can (pre-)scan e-mails for potential spam violations.

2.3 Using Proton and/or public tools which can assist in the cleanup of spam blacklists.

2.4 etc.

3. Whether there is potential for future process improvements; e.g.

3.1. Including the Proton Mail customer into their own internal automated Proton anti-spam system workflow, similar to how companies like Facebook are organized in case of potential media copyright violations (e.g. Audio posted together with a video clip), so that there is an automated collaboration before an entire account is being shut down.

3.2. Etc.

For now, back to work, catching up with my e-mail inbox...;-)...