this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2025

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protonmail blocks account creation through tor (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 days ago by cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

95 comments fedilink hide all child comments

so now proton completely blocking account creation through their onion adress? I have standard protection, javascript enabled. Time to swith for those who use this service as they are ditching tor and switzerland?

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[–] coffeetastesbadlikecoffee@sh.itjust.works 23 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

I previously commented I would write the support, now I actually read the docs first and found out why:

If you want to create an account over tor you can, just not via the clearnet URL, probably due to rate limiting by IP adress. However if you use their Onion Link as specified in this article by their support (https://proton.me/support/tor-setup) it works just fine (as far as I just tested). So great! Because using .onion services is far more secure than accessing clearnet over Tor anyway.

Here the url, verify it with the link in the support article tho: https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion/

[–] cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

The onion link was used, please see my screenshot first...

[–] coffeetastesbadlikecoffee@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago

Huh, that's wierd. Because it worked for me... they must be rate limiting Tor.

[–] EngineerGaming@retrolemmy.com 2 points 19 hours ago

I checked that (together with the clearnet link) a few times recently, got a nondescript error like "sorry something went wrong" every time.

[–] stupid_asshole69@hexbear.net 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Change your route, people using tor with the same exit as you are doing too many username checks.

[–] cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 7 hours ago

As a said inmyp previous comment onion site was used so they dont have access to info and ip of my exit node, and,anywaty, I have tried to change circuit and access again but without success.

[–] coffeetastesbadlikecoffee@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Just tested it, same here. Clearnet works but tor not. I will contact support since part of the reason I like to pay for unlimited is to subsidize free, anonymous accounts.

Edit: here is my other comment:

I previously commented I would write the support, now I actually read the docs first and found out why:

Here the url, verify it with the link in the support article tho: https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion/

[–] upstroke4448@lemmy.dbzer0.com 53 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Have you actually asked proton support about this issue, if so what have they said?

It seems like you got frustrated and instead of trying to get help you decided to complain on lemmy.

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[–] not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Does anybody know valid alternatives to proton mail, I think they have been enshitified

[–] markstos@lemmy.world 5 points 23 hours ago

There is a relatively small number of shared Tor exit node IP addresses.

So it’s more likely using Tor will trigger “too many attempts for IP” throttling for any service with bot protection.

It’s nothing against Tor, but is an expected side-affect of attempting to be anonymous by sharing the same IP address with many people.

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 day ago

Tuta ? But only for mail AFAIK.

[–] Ephemeral@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Mailbox.org (option if you want custom domain) or Posteo.de

[–] cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I use posteo.de provider, it costs 1 eur for month, 3 adress, they have inbound encryption of emails as proton, also they dont accept crypto but you can pay by cash and card and "All of our payment methods are anonymised using a payment system developed by Posteo. We do not link payment information with email accounts." You can learn more about their privacy features on their site https://posteo.de/en/site/features#featuresprivacy

[–] meta4@retrolemmy.com 3 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Why are you trying to sign up for Proton if you already use another provider?

[–] not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

i'm sorry can't you have multiple email accounts anymore? privacy and all that, remember?

[–] meta4@retrolemmy.com 1 points 2 hours ago

Sure you can. Wouldn't that have been an easy excuse for this guy to reply with instead of all this defensive bullshit?

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[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org 93 points 2 days ago (25 children)

A lot of push against Proton on here lately. Makes me suspicious.

[–] not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 8 hours ago

it should be possible to criticize a mail provider without being flooded by it's evangelists. Especially proton, their image of privacy does not reflect reality at all

[–] lemmyknow@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago

Not saying it's some sort of conspiracy theory, but it do be kinda sus. People are just quick to hate Proton over anything. It's like bias confirmation. They seem to be justifying their hatred, or looking for reasons to do so. I mean, "leaving Switzerland"? Really?! I thought that was because Switzerland was considering a privacy-unfriendly law. That's bad, now?

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Valid criticism is suspicious?

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 13 points 1 day ago

OP said they are blocking tor users. I say the error message might just be legit and someone is spamming username existence checks through Tor.

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[–] JumpyWombat@lemmy.ml 55 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Is it that maybe someone on your exit node is trying to enumerate valid accounts?

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