(And now you understand why it’s called Proton.) Yen recalled observing China increasing its control over Hong Kong, limiting citizens’ rights including the right to personal privacy. It was reflecting on his past experiences growing up in Taiwan that eventually convinced him of the need to create an organization like Proton. In his interview, Yen told Time that he never intended to leave his chosen profession as a nuclear physicist to get into the technology business. He obviously didn’t need to look for a new job or a different career. He moved to Switzerland to work at the CERN nuclear research facility, which also happens to be the birthplace of the Internet. More About the CEOĪndy Yen earned a PhD in particle physics from Harvard University. Predictions are that this count will rise to around 800 within the coming two years. The Proton staff has increased four-fold since the onset of the COVID pandemic, going from about 100 employees to over 400. Yen believes that, if privacy-based alternatives to services provided by Big Tech are made available, users will come. If Proton isn’t following the accepted norm of collecting and selling users’ data, and given that they offer their basic services for free, how can the organization not only survive but thrive? In his Time interview, Yen said they are, “serving users and not advertisers.” Proton’s business model prohibits the surveilling of its users in return for compensation from advertisers. Yen said that, “the accepted common knowledge was that the only way to make money online was to adopt Google’s model – that surveillance capitalism was the way to go if you wanted a profitable and sustainable and scalable business.” Yen and the Proton staff are proving otherwise. In a recent interview with Time Magazine, he used the phrase “surveillance capitalism” to describe the way Big Tech operates. This is a great phrase to describe the activities of those who collect and sell our data. If you like them, and I’m predicting that you will, more tools and storage are available for very reasonable monthly or annual subscription fees.

The best part? You can try Proton products at no cost. Proton has now added secure encrypted file sharing and calendar services to its menu of offerings and recently expanded services for its email customers.

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