Image: Proton
Proton Mail is the email service for users who value privacy and security. You know what else needs to be both private and secure? Your collection of hundreds of login passwords, for everything from your favorite recipe site to your banking app. So, adding a password manager to Proton’s offerings is kind of a no-brainer and here we are: Say hello to Proton Pass. The beta service is available now for premium Proton Mail subscribers, but the company says that it’ll eventually become free for everyone.
Proton Pass’s raison d’etre is the same as the email service: end-to-end encryption, implemented in such a way that even Proton itself can’t see your personal information. This is achieved by encrypting absolutely everything—the password, login field, associated web address, additional notes, everything—and performing all cryptographic operations on local hardware, not servers. So, theoretically, even if Proton itself is compromised, your data can’t be accessed.
The service is available now as a dedicated app for desktops and phones, plus browser extensions in Chrome and Brave, with support for Firefox and other browsers coming sometime soon. Proton Pass includes two-factor authentication and also randomly generates email aliases that can replace your real address, a trick borrowed from Proton’s acquisition of SimpleLogin in 2022. Planned updates include an open-source release and bug bounty program as well as support for hardware security keys, which The Verge notes is missing at launch.
It’s a particularly good time to launch a new password manager, as the fallout from the highly public hack of LastPass is shaking users’ faith in one of the market’s biggest players. Just don’t imagine that using a password manager alone fills out your data security checklist—especially if you’re still letting it auto-fill your passwords into webpages.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.
Recent stories by Michael Crider:
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