Proton: online document collaboration with privacy
Proton has now introduced Docs in Drive. End-to-end encryption is intended to enable secure collaboration on documents.
(Image: proton.met)
The Swiss provider Proton, known in particular for its privacy-oriented email service Proton Mail, has now introduced "Docs in Proton Drive". This is cloud-based software in which files are stored end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) and can be edited together with others.
Proton describes Docs in Proton Drive as an alternative to Google Docs or Microsoft 365, for example, where users are increasingly concerned that big tech companies could gain access to content or track users across the network and ultimately collect data to train privacy-invading AI models. Proton is positioning the end-to-end encrypted collaborative document editor against this.
Docs in Proton Drive: Strong privacy
Docs in Proton Drive prioritizes privacy and is based on the same basic principles of privacy and security as the other Proton services. Collaboration is possible in Docs in real time, allowing comments, inserting photos and the secure storage of files. Everything remains private: even keystrokes and cursor movements are encrypted, writes Proton in the announcement of Docs in Proton Drive.
The function is also available to users of the free version. The roll-out of Docs in Proton Drive began on Wednesday this week and should be available to all users in the coming days. You can try it out by clicking on "New" in your own drive-proton.me account at the top left, where you can create a new document. This can then be shared with collaborators.
Docs in Proton Drive offers particular advantages over several problems of the large cloud providers. There is no mass data collection like in Google Docs, which sees everything users write. Providers will also be able to use it to train their AIs in future. The risk of data leaks is low thanks to end-to-end encryption. The large IT companies are only subject to weak privacy laws in the USA, unlike in Switzerland. Third-party providers and governments cannot access the files without cause.
In May 2022, Proton merged its previous products, Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar and Proton Drive under the "Proton" brand. The services come with applications for desktop, mobile devices and the web.
(dmk)