The IT ministry has reportedly decided to issue an order blocking end-to-end encrypted email service ProtonMail. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the government is planning to block the email service at the request of the Tamil Nadu police over a hoax bomb threat sent to at least thirteen private schools in Chennai on February 8. The report says that the decision to block ProtonMail was taken at a meeting of the 69A blocking committee on Wednesday (February 14).
A Proton spokesperson told the publication that the company has received the request from MeitY “a few days ago”. “We are currently working to resolve this situation and are investigating how we can best work together with the Indian authorities to do so. We understand the urgency of the situation and are completely clear that our services are not to be used for illegal purposes. We routinely remove users who are found to be doing so and are willing to cooperate wherever possible within international cooperation agreements,” the spokesperson said.
About time!! Been waiting for this for so long. This will definitely make the usability of Signal better and it'll also be more accessible to people who wanted a Telegram like way to talk to other folks. Requiring a number to still register isn't a bad thing in my eyes though sometimes it can be frustrating so I hope that there's an option to create an account without a number. Maybe the account will have finite time before it's auto-deleted if you don't input a number some time later to ensure that this option isn't abused to all hell by bots and malicious actors alike.