Karnataka HC orders blocking of Proton Mail

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ordered the Union government to take action to block Proton Mail services in India.

The order was passed by Justice M Nagaprasanna while hearing a petition filed by M Moser Design Associates India Private Limited after allegedly objectionable emails about its employee were sent using Proton Mail to the company’s other staff and clients.

Proton Mail is a Swiss email service with zero-access encryption, which ensures that only the sender of the email – not even the service provider – can access the data.

The petitioner had told the court that while it had filed a police complaint seeking a probe into the email its staff and clients had received through Proton Mail, the investigation was unlikely to be effective as the service had refused to provide details about the sender of the allegedly offensive email.

It contended that the service poses a national security risk, considering the high level of anonymity it offers its users, and sought directions to either regulate Proton Mail’s operations in the country or block it entirely.

The petitioner claimed that the service was being used to send hoax bomb threats to schools in the country, Bar and Bench reported.

Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath told the bench that the Union government “will comply” with a blocking...

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